


Kingdom Hearts V: Balance of Power

by violethowler



Series: Acolytes of Chaos [7]
Category: American Dragon: Jake Long, Kim Possible (Cartoon), Kingdom Hearts, Lilo & Stitch (2002), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Multi, Non Canonical Immortal, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Past Relationship(s), Temporary Character Death, cliffhanger ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14071821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violethowler/pseuds/violethowler
Summary: As the Hellfire Club and the Unchained Legion prepare to go to war over control of the Infinity Stones, Sora and Kairi set off from opposite sides of the universe to find each other again. But will they be able to stop the forces arrayed against them from assembling the Gauntlet and altering the face of reality as they know it?





	1. Phase Two

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posting this from my fanfiction.net account

#### Titan's Refuge – Maleficent's Throne

#### October 6th, 2021

The space above was silent as asteroids tumbled through the cosmos overhead. The only sound within a hundred feet of the large, hovering throne was the sound of Maleficent and her cabal discussing their next move. The loss of most of HYDRA, the Mind Stone, and the Infinity Stone was a critical blow to their cause. But thankfully, Gideon Malick and his staff had managed to retrieve their valuable research data and escape with their lives and their freedom, returning to the  _Nathalis_ for transport to the Hellfire Club's new headquarters. Now that the information they'd uncovered about the Time Stone had been analyzed, it was time for Maleficent and her inner circle to discuss their next move.

"We know that the Time Stone is hidden on Earth," Loki commented as he lounged on the steps leading up to the throne that once held the bulky weight of Thanos but now belonged to Maleficent. "Within the device known as the Uchrono Hourglass. The question now is how are we going to retrieve it?"

"Precisely," Captain Hook chimed in. "Even with access to Malekith's resources, the Coalition's attack on the Kiln has dealt us a critical blow. We barely have enough resources to protect our new base of operations, let alone launch an invasion of Coalition space. And then there's that blasted Legion to consider. It's clear from their actions at Radiant Garden that we are not the only ones in pursuit of the Infinity Gauntlet."

"Meaning that we have competition for our goals," Cruella de Vil added. "Meaning we have to divide our resources dealing with enemies on two sides while also searching for our prize."

"Exactly," Maleficent finished from atop her throne. "Which is why for the time being we will leave that wretched Coalition alone. We will focus our efforts on rebuilding our resources and destroying our newest rival. Once the Legion has been extinguished, we will resume our search for the stones and put our energy back into achieving our shared goal of universal domination."

"But then there's another problem to consider," Diablo observed. "What to do about Malekith. He's already built himself a considerable power base and may instigate a coup if given the opportunity to do so. He's already swayed Seymour and Demona to his side, and I fear that if we do not deliver on our bargain, Sephiroth's bastards will soon join them."

"We'll send those boys off on a wild goose chase for the time being, then," Maleficent answered. "We'll use Malekith's vessel as the flagship of our armada for now. That way we can keep an eye on him and his conspirators. In the meantime, Captain Hook will lead our remaining ships and the Heartless in raids on Galactic Federation shipyards to rebuild our armada. Once we've built our fleet back up, we're taking the fight to this "Legion" and burning them to the ground." Everyone nodded their heads as the inner circle dispersed. Each had their responsibilities to attend to, and though they were all friends, none of them stuck around to chat. They had work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Uchrono Hourglass is from American Dragon: Jake Long. Doctor Strange hadn't come out when I wrote this, so I didn't know about the Eye of Agamoto being the Time Stone, and chose to have the stone be a pre-existing time travel device from a Disney property.


	2. The Great Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kingdom Hearts V: Balance of Power is more of a character driven story than an action driven one. So the chapters will focus more on how the cast interacts with each other than on the fighting and chase scenes.

#### The Lanes Between –  _Mirage Arena_

#### October 6th, 2021

 _Why did Maleficent have to attack Radiant Garden the day I was preparing to leave to go find Sora?_ Kairi thought sarcastically to herself as the  _RLS Legacy_ docked at the spaceport orbiting the small world below. Although the damage to the city had been minor, the world hadn't escaped the wrath of the Hellfire Club unscathed. Most of the city's resources were all being directed towards repairing damaged buildings and providing medical attention to the injured. It had taken six days before spaceport traffic had opened enough for Captain Amelia to get the  _Legacy_ ready to depart, and because of the way supplies were being distributed, they needed to acquire rations and fuel elsewhere.

The closest spaceport to Radiant Garden was the Mirage Arena, a space station orbiting The Great Forest that served as both a supply depot and a coliseum where warriors from all over Coalition Space could come to test their skills against each other. Phil had come up with the idea a few years ago and had been the owner and manager of the coliseum tournaments ever since. The reason the spaceport wasn't on the surface of The Great Forest was because like the Pride Lands, the animal inhabitants weren't anthropomorphic, so tourists wishing to travel to the surface of such worlds had to pass through a morphic teleporter, which transformed them into a form appropriate to the environment before transporting them down to the surface.

Unlike the Pride Lands, however, the Great Forest lacked a clear society structure. Because it had no government to be inducted into the Coalition, the Great Forest was considered a protectorate of the Coalition. The animals living there, since they were all sentient, were accorded the same rights as full Coalition citizens, but as far as tourist traffic was concerned, the world was treated like a nature preserve. Hunting was prohibited within the world's borders, and nothing could be built there. For that reason, the Mirage Arena stood sentinel just outside the edge of the world's atmosphere. Standing guard against outside threats while monitoring the surface for signs of intrusion by the Hellfire Club or its ilk.

While Captain Amelia stood outside the ship's gangplank overseeing the on-loading of provisions and the refueling of her prized ship, Kairi and the others kept themselves busy during their layover. With Riku and Goofy off using the restroom one last time before they got back on the ship, Rose waited in line at the nearby snack bar ordering the group lunch while they waited. Kairi and Donald sat down on a bench at the end of the dock, watching spaceport workers unload and offload supplies.

"Don't worry," Donald told her. "We'll find him." Although the Princess of Heart had not said anything, her concern for Sora's fate was written all over her face. It had been over two weeks since he had been forcibly transported to Earth by the Tesseract, and while Loki could tell her some of what he knew of the planet's recent goings on, she had no idea whether her fiancé was even still alive. With no way for the Prince of Asgard to get in touch with his brother, the Unchained Legion could have hunted Sora down and killed him for all she knew. Thankfully, Donald's reassurance helped to ease her worries.

"Thanks, Donald," she replied. "But I can't afford to worry. All worrying will do is distract me. Focusing on bringing him home keeps me going. And if I have something to focus on, I can push through the fear." The sentient duck nodded in understanding just as two familiar figures walked up. Although Kairi hadn't interacted with them much, she'd hung out with Yuna enough to recognize Rikku and Paine on sight. But from the way they carried themselves, the princess knew that this wasn't a social call. They were here doing work for the Intelligence Network.

"Our most recent excursions down to the Forest have turned up evidence of recent activity of some nefarious organization," Rikku explained.

"Not clear yet if it's the Club or the Legion," Paine added. "All we know is that they're abducting the locals and they have a central base of operations. We know that you're busy tracking down your fiancé, but since your ship's not going to be finished resupplying for a couple more hours, Cassim told us to ask if you could lend us a hand with the investigation until you leave." Kairi nodded in understanding. She didn't want to delay her search for Sora any longer than she had to, but since it would be another three hours before they were ready to cast off again, who was she to say no to something to keep her busy when it dropped into her lap. Besides, she wouldn't dream of turning people down when they needed her help.

"Of course," she answered. "Let me go grab the others and we'll meet you at the teleporter."

* * *

#### New York City – Canal Street Electronics

#### October 6th, 2021

"I know there's not stoppin' you when you put your mind to it, Jakey," Trixie Carter said with a reassuring smile. "So just promise me and Spud that you'll be careful when you're out in space lookin' for Rose." Jake smiled. He'd called his parents, Rose's parents, their sisters, and closest friends, telling them to meet him at his grandfather's electronics shop. Once everyone was there, he told them about what had happened to Rose and about his plan to head out into space and help them look for her. He explained as best as he could about Sora and legends of the Keyblade War, but left out the part about Rose being an Unchained. He figured that was her story to tell.

In any case, he had expected complete resistance to the idea of him going into space to look for her. Or that everyone would doubt his knowledge that she was no longer on Earth. But much to his surprise, everyone was completely on board with his goal. Rose was part of the family, and everyone wanted him to find whoever took her and make them pay. Or "teach them not to mess with the ex-AmDrag," as Trixie and Spud preferred to say. The former American Dragon smiled. He'd cashed in all his vacation days he'd accumulated at work (not that he needed to, since the school administration was understanding of the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him along on their investigation into his wife's abduction), and with Trixie and Spud filling in for when the dragon council needed his help, things were well in hand, and he didn't need to worry about anything else when he flew off to rescue the love of his life.

"Thanks, Trixie," Jake replied as he gave everyone one last hug. "I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but if you ever hear or see anything about the Legion guys who took her, call this number." He passed out cards to everyone with the contact information for a burner phone owned by S.A.C.K. Director Peggy Rogers. "They have experience in dealing with Keyblade War related stuff." After a round of hugs and handshakes, Jake followed his grandfather and Fu into the back of the shop. His grandpa had some magical artifacts to take with him in case of emergencies.

While Fu stuffed an extra duffel bag full of things like air capsules (modified from the original underwater survival versions to allow him to breath in space), fairy dust, a few knives made from unicorn horn in the event that he needed to cut through alien metals that were stronger than anything found on Earth or Asgard, and other magical gadgets, Lao Shi discussed more secretive matters with his grandson. While he hadn't mentioned why the Legion wanted to kidnap Rose, Lao Shi knew enough to figure out what was going on without being said. While the dragon council knew of the existence of the Unchained thanks to documents pilfered from the Huntsclan databases after Rose destroyed them with the Aztec skulls back in 2007, the fact that the Unchained had  _created_ the Huntsclan was an earth shattering revelation to them.

Because of this, the former Chinese Dragon was able to pick up on the fact that Jake's knowledge of the Unchained Legion was too thorough to have come from the corrupted files salvaged from ruined Huntslairs. While his grandfather was accepting of the fact that Rose was an Unchained, Jake knew that not everyone in the magical community would be as understanding. Which was why he and his grandfather agreed not to speak of his wife's status as immortal Keyblade Master and founder of the Huntsclan to anyone. After saying goodbye to his grandpa, he walked into the alleyway and pulled out his cellphone. He speed dialed Gordon, and a few minutes later, he reappeared in Hawaii.  _Well,_ he thought.  _Time to get this show on the road._

* * *

#### The Great Forest – Lake Shores

#### October 6th, 2021

"Well," Kairi remarked as she and her party looked back across the lake at the flames rising up into the night sky. "I think this trip is off to an eventful started." With the approval of Coalition Intelligence, the five of them had bypassed the teleportation pad's shapeshifting mechanisms and beamed down to the Great Forest in human form. After all, they needed to have their full mobility if things got violent. Once they arrived at the transport point near the site, they followed the coordiates to a small island in the middle of a lake on the outskirts of the woods. From a distance, the island wasn't anything remarkable. But once they reached it, things were an entirely different story.

What they found was like something that Aqua and Lea had encountered in the Jungle in the final weeks of the Xehanort War. Yzma had been harvesting local wildlife for blood and tissue samples to use in her transformation potions. The Unchained Legion had been doing the exact same thing, although they had been adding in a ground up liquid that, upon closer inspection, proved to be a mixture of liquefied Night Howlers and various narcotic substances which made one more suggestible. The small bunker the operation was based out of was abandoned when they found it, and the three Keyblade wielders wasted no time in destroying the facility, although not before downloading every scrap of information they could to find out why the Legion was doing this.

The answer, extrapolated by Rose based on evidence since they didn't have a computer to verify it yet, was chilling.

"It was something the High Council would always talk about as an extension of The Endgame," the former Huntsgirl explained. The Endgame, she had clarified, referred to the Unchained Legion's goal of fusing the shattered pieces of the original world back together before reforming society in their image of perfection. "They wanted to find a way to get rid of those they considered impure without actually killing them. If this lab is any indication, they decided to do that by turning people into animals both physically and mentally."

"We need to forward this information to the Intelligence Network," Kairi commented as Gummi Ships equipped with fire-fighting equipment descended from the sky. "So that they can start figuring out how to take the Unchained down." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement before they returned to the spaceport. By the time they returned, the  _RLS Legacy_ and its captain had just finished with refueling and resupplying. As they cast off into the Lanes Between once more, Kairi couldn't help but wonder just what Rose meant when she referred to the Legion's "image of perfection." She just hoped that she could find Sora in time.

* * *

 

#### The Hawaiian Islands – Pelekai House

#### October 6th, 2021

"Alright," Captain America called out as he loaded the last suitcase full of clothes into the storage bay of Jumba Jookiba's spaceship. "That's everything. We're good to go." At the bottom of the craft's boarding ramp, the founding members of the Avengers were saying goodbye to their significant others. Tony and Pepper were having a quiet discussion on the dangers of space travel, while Bruce and Betty exchanged emotional farewells. Bucky and Natasha's on the other hand was more quiet and calm, as was Clint and Laura's. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury was currently engaged in an animated discussion with Jumba and Thor regarding the intergalactic sociopolitical structure along their route to Turo.

When Vanitas and his team had struck out at the hidden Unchained base following Maleficent's attack on Radiant Garden, they were able to download multiple files from the Legion's mainframe. Unfortunately, the files were severely corrupted and the few that weren't were heavily encrypted. It had taken almost a week just for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computer expert Daisy Johnson to recover the handful of files they'd been able to access so far. And that was with the help of Natasha's outdated information on the Unchained Legion's cyber security software. All that Daisy had managed to dig up a list of galactic coordinates classified as points of interest to the Legion.

There was no indication from either Asgard or Earth's files why these planets were important to the quasi-immortal Keyblade Masters. But they knew that given the Legion's recent actions, nobody was under any illusions that it was anything good. As a favor to Vanitas, Sora promised that they'd stop by those coordinates and investigate on their way to Turo. So while the more recent members of the team stayed behind to protect Earth, six of the original Avengers (and Nick Fury) were accompanying Sora to the Galactic Federation capital in the hopes of finding a route back to the Daybreak Coalition on the way. Jake was tagging along, although nobody except Thor and Sora knew  _why_ the Unchained Legion had abducted his wife.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes, they all climbed up the boarding ramp and into the spaceship. Once everyone was seated and buckled in, Jumba took the ship up. Within the hour, the bright red vessel broke through Earth's atmosphere and out into space. While Stitch calculated the coordinates for their first hyperspace jump, everyone began discussing their plans for the journey.

"I figure that once this is all over," Hawkeye went on. "I'll be able to bring home some alien slime or something for my kids. I used to bring souvenirs home from my S.H.I.E.L.D. missions whenever I could, and since I've never been off Earth before, why not bring something home for the family?" Bruce nodded in agreement as he put on some headphones with relaxing music and tilted his chair back to sleep. He trusted his ability to control the Hulk in a confined, pressurized environment, but sleeping through long journeys always helped give him an extra safety net. Tony and Jumba were busy discussing spaceship engineering while Steve and Thor talked about the legends of the Keyblade War. And while Sora and Natasha were discussing her status as an Unchained, Nick Fury and Jake Long were busy making themselves food for the long flight.

"So," Fury began as he brewed a fresh pot of coffee in the galley. "What does an army of quasi-immortal madmen want with the wife of the American Dragon?" Seeing Jake's face pale at the words, he let out a small chuckle. "Just because I only have one good eye doesn't mean I don't notice things that can't be explained by science," he went on. "I knew a family of leprechauns who lived down the street from me when I was in my early teens. When I told them I'd figured it out, I was afraid it'd be like in Harry Potter, where they'd erase the memories of people who weren't magical."

"That's more of a last resort than anything else," Jake hastily tried to explain before the retired colonel got the wrong idea.

"Relax, kid," Fury replied. "They were pretty lenient on the whole secrecy thing, and I got invited to see some magical sporting events from time to time. I was there at the beauty pageant that dog of yours was in, for instance. Anyway, once I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I realized that the magical community had to stay off the radar, because the World Security Council tended to be on the extreme side, and their approach to dealing with the supernatural world could have kick-started a war. So I did everything I could to make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. never found out. I'm pretty sure the S.A.C.K. guys have known since their inception, but that's not much of an issue since they've kept to themselves all this time."

While Jake was worried about how the Avengers would react to the supernatural community, Nick promised to do the explaining for him so that the team would understand why they never knew that dragons existed before. While Jake still helped the magical community maintain the masquerade, every year he began to feel that it was becoming more and more unnecessary. The world was strange enough that nobody would really be all that surprised to discover leprechauns and unicorns living among them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the Mirage Arena has never actually been used outside of Birth By Sleep in terms of the story, but when I came up with the idea of the Daybreak Coalition I wanted to incorporate the Arena somehow, and a space station with a coliseum in the center seemed like the best possible way to make that happen.


	3. The Circus

#### The Realm Eternal – Spaceport

#### October 7th, 2021

"So," Tony began. "What exactly is there on Asgard that the quasi-immortal Key Bearers want so badly?" The team had emerged from hyperspace to find that their first point of investigation was none other than Asgard itself. While Thor's home world wasn't currently in any immediate danger, the alien prince insisted on giving Sora a tour of the kingdom. Everyone else in the group had visited before and knew where everything was, but since the young Keyblade Master had never seen the magnificent city, Thor decided that while they were there, he might as well give Sora a tour. "I mean, not that I don't enjoy coming here," Iron Man continued as the group walked through the streets.

"Of course you don't, Tony," Captain American remarked sarcastically. "I mean it's not like you enjoy lapping up all the attention they give you, what with being called "Lord Stark" and all." The Avengers all laughed. The billionaire's ego inflated a little every time the people of Asgard addressed him as Lord Stark, and the rest of Earth's mightiest heroes loved to tease him about it relentlessly. Particularly about the fact that the only reason he enjoyed the nickname was because he was a huge Game of Thrones fan. Even Sora, who had been introduced to the show when Tony forced him to sit down and binge it with him during the six-day period between Vanitas' arrival and their departure, couldn't help but laugh at the connection, even though the show wasn't really his thing.

"Stark's preening aside," Thor remarked. "There are a fair number of ancient artifacts in the palace vaults that date back to the Keyblade War. The Warlock's Eye, The Tuning Fork, The Eternal Flame, The Tablet of Life… All sorts of magical objects that either Maleficent or the Unchained could potentially weaponized towards their own ends." The mention of relics of the Keyblade War snagged the attention of both Sora and Nick Fury, and they quickly launched into a discussion of what these artifacts were capable of. The discussion eventually drew in everyone else in the group, except for one. Jake had taken Fury's advice and told everyone about the team, and to their credit, they wholly embraced the fact that they now had a genuine fire-breathing dragon on the team.

But that did not make it his place to share the fact that his wife was an Unchained herself and knew exactly what those relics of the Keyblade War could do. The Warlock's Eye had been coveted by the Legion since the idea of the Endgame was first conceived. A device that allowed for mass mind control that the Unchained Legion intended to use to keep the people of Earth aligned to their way of thinking. The Eternal Flame kept the Nine Realms apart, a fact detested by all Unchained, even his wife, as the other eight worlds were prevented from returning to Earth when the cycle of the Keyblade War neared its end. The whole reason that the cycle kept going, his wife had explained, was because the Earth could never be truly whole without every fragment being put back into place. As long as there were still pieces of the world drifting through the universe, the cycle had no hope of ever being broken.

The other two items were a mystery, even to Jake. All Rose would tell him when he asked what they were for after his first visit to asgard following the restoration of her memories as an Unchained was that there were some things he really was better off not knowing. While under normal circumstances, he might suspect that they involved elements of her personal history that she felt ashamed of talking about, the pure, unfiltered terror in her eyes when she begged him not to ask her about it again told him otherwise. Whatever the tablet and the fork were for, it was enough to scare even an unflappable quasi-immortal ex-Huntsgirl.

But that was a train of thought to pursue at a later date. Right now, the Jake, Sora, and the Avengers were invited guests in the Asgardian Royal palace. So as they followed Thor up to the castle to get ready for dinner, the former American Dragon kept his thoughts focused on the present as the team discussed their next destination. While Asgard didn't appear to be in any danger, everyone could tell that sooner or later, the Unchained Legion would be coming for at least one artifact in Odin's Vault. The Hellfire Club wasn't even considered a possibility. Otherwise, they would have snatched what they needed when they "liberated" Loki last month. Whatever the Legion was planning, they all agreed that it couldn't be good.

* * *

#### The Lanes Between –  _U.W.S. Ava_

#### October 7th, 2021

"So," Skuld began as she looked out the viewport of her office as the stars streaked by outside. "They're all on the move." With fifty Firaga-class plasma guns, fifty Blizzaga-class spell cannons, a hundred Thundaga-class missile launchers, a military barracks and a sprawling office complex, the  _Ava_ was by far the largest warship in the Unchained fleet. Named after the Foreteller Vulpeus in the wake of her murder at the hands of the Foreteller Leopardos at the start of the Keyblade War. Since Ava had been the one to bring the young Keyblade initiates would become the Unchained Legion together, it was only fitting that they name their mobile headquarters in her honor.

"They are, Imperator," Praetor Gao reported. "The princess and her friends have already disrupted my laboratory in the Great Forest. I fear our testing ground will likely soon be compromised as well. Meanwhile those pathetic Avengers and that boy Sora have arrived on Asgard."

"And what of the Hellfire Club?" Skuld asked. "Where does that witch Maleficent stand in all of this?"

"It's as you've predicted," the man formerly known as Marluxia answered. "She sees us as the greater threat, and has been harassing our outlying bases for the past three days now. Her campaign is more intensive than we anticipated, and we've just lost three ships as of this morning, with maybe a dozen Legionnaires, three Decurions, and one Centurion killed in the last day alone. Forgive me for being blunt, Skuld, but as much as we're all looking forward to the Endgame, the Hellfire Club needs to be dealt with before our dream of a brighter future can move forward."

Across the table, heads nodded in understanding. They were all aware of the fact that they weren't the only ones hunting for the Infinity Stones. If they were ever going to fully restore the Gauntlet of The First Keyblade Master, then they needed to clear away the competition first. Finally, High Praetor Robert spoke up.

"As you command, Imperator," he remarked. "I'll have order our fleet to launch a forward offensive against the Hellfire Club's bases. We'll cut off their retreat and force them to regroup. Once they've all gathered in one place, we'll wipe them out with a single stroke. Their recent attacks are a clear indication that they are prioritizing the removal of competition just as we are. We need to act fast if we are to have any hope of eliminating them." All hands went up in favor of the High Praetor's proposal, and the meeting was adjourned. Once the rest of the council had left, only three of the eight Unchained that made up the Legion's hierarchy remained.

Every Legionnaire had been Unchained since before the last Keyblade War began, but only Skuld, Aurilam, and Lerena had all fought together during the war. The other regional commanders of the Unchained Legion had been part of Praetor Valerie's Hunstclan initiative, and had been wiped out when the dragon-loving wretch betrayed them. As such, while she relied on the High Council for tactical advice, Aurilam and Lerena were the only ones Skuld truly felt that she could confide in when the pressure of their monumental goals began to get to her. That was why she had come to see them over the millennia as valued friends rather than merely trusted advisors.

"I know Gao thinks that the only way to purge Darkness from the world is to turn everyone into animals," Skuld commented. "But does that really justify making slaves out of such a large portion of humanity?"

"Come on, Skuld," Aurilam answered reassuringly. "So much of humanity is so far gone that there's simply no hope of them ever finding their way out of the filth and decadence of the world."

"But so many people who fall into darkness only do so out of desperation," Skuld replied. "Doing unspeakable things just to be able to put food on their family's tables. Such violence is a sign of the Darkness' influence on the universe, but they are a symptom of larger problems at work."

"All the more reason for the Endgame," Lerena countered. "We need to get humanity back on track. It's like Ephemer said, sometimes you can't remodel a building without tearing apart the old parts. Things will get ugly, but we have to make sacrifices to build a better world." Skuld shed a tear at mention of her predecessor. She'd had a crush on Ephemer ever since he lead the Unchained Legion during the Keyblade War, but she knew it was unrequited. The First Unchained had been in love with a girl from the Leopardos guild, only for her to perish at the Sinking of Atlantis. He'd never moved on from her death, ultimately mourning her for the past eight thousand years.

Skuld was beginning to have doubts, which, for a being who had been alive for eight thousand years, were never a good thing to have. She had seen civilizations crumble in the fires of the Keyblade War. The Wakanda Protectorate, the Republic of Sokovia, Blackagar Boltagon's Inhuman Empire… The war had left civilization in ruins, and in the aftermath, the Unchained Legion had witnessed empires rise and fall, and played their parts in raising them up and tearing them down. But since the rise of the Avengers, Skuld had begun to look back and question whether their dream of a restored and purified world was worth the chaos and collateral damage required to achieve it.

* * *

#### The Circus – Train Station

#### October 7th, 2021

"Well I'm glad that's over with," Kairi remarked as she plopped down next to Rose on the station platform. After the hectic rush to finish things up in the Great Forest, they all decided to sleep aboard the  _Legacy_ before setting off on their journey again. Unfortunately, they were woken up in the early hours of the morning by another call from Coalition Intelligence about Unchained activity. They'd spent the entire day scouting the circus for suspicious activity before they final caught sight of Unchained Legionnaires attempting to infect the audience of the afternoon show with the potions developed in the laboratory in the Great Forest. With the threat dealt with, the quintet were taking a moment to relax as the circus staff took down tents and loaded everything back up onto their train.

Kairi couldn't help but glance at the woman next to her. While she knew that Rose was an Unchained, she had no idea what had made her desert from the Legion.

"Can I ask you something?" the princess of Heart began cautiously. "What made you defect from the Legion. I'm not accusing you of anything, I swear. I'm just curious what made you shake off eight thousand years of entrenched dogma." Rose took a deep breath as she thought back to the precise moment that caused her to question everything she'd valued for millennia.

"It all started with a bit of a complicated story," she replied. "For the longest time, Jake's dad was ignorant of the fact that he'd married into a family of shapeshifting magical reptiles. So one day, Jake gets the idea to go back in time and convince his mom to tell him the truth. His dad freaks out and breaks up with his mom, so Jake has to scramble to get his parents back together or he'll never be born. Anyway, his dad called his mom to apologize and try to make amends, but the Huntsclan, the branch of the Legion that I oversaw, had been monitoring all the phone calls in the area at the time and overheard their conversation. So we napped his dad and interrogated him. "

"I watched through security cameras as our best interrogators try to convince him to give us the dragons' location, but he spat in our faces and told us that we were the monsters."

"That's it?" Kairi asked. "I find it hard to believe that Unchained aren't thick skinned after all these years."

"It was't so much the fact that he said it," Rose replied. "But his choice of words brought back old memories. During the War, there were dozens of campaigns over the course of seven years as the four guilds and the Legion waged war across the planet. One of the longest, bloodiest campaigns, second only to the Storming of Daybreak Town, was the Atilan Sieges. Three Keyblade Wielding armies against the full might of the Inhuman Empire. The Inhuman government had allied themselves with the Ursus guild to expand their borders. Renegade factions within Inhuman society, led by a woman named Jenova, had offered the Legion and the Anguis guild access to Inhuman territory in exchange for helping her overthrow King Blotagon. But things weren't that simple."

"The Anguis armies were zealous in their devotion to the light," the Unchained continued. "A lot of the field commanders in Foreteller Invi's faction were also sympathetic to the Unchained, and they shared our belief that anyone allied with Darkness was beyond saving. The Unchained within Anguis blazed a trail of fire and blood from Lai Shi to Atilan. Because Inhumans had been genetically modified by Kree scientists to be living weapons, a lot of Unchained used to, and still do, see them as subhuman. I'm ashamed to admit that in my zealous drive to avenge your – I mean, Ava's death, that I bought into that view. We had taken a village of Boltagon loyalists prisoner and Jenova was publicly executing them. "

"The last prisoner in line for the execution was the king's son, Ahura Boltagon himself," Rose went on. "When Jenova asked if he had any last words or anything to say about his "monstrous" family, he said "The only monsters I know are the bigots standing right in front of me." And then Warden Lerena took his head off like she was chopping vegetables. At the time, Ahura's words didn't really have any effect, but when my future father in-law used almost the exact same words, it was like a punch in the stomach. That was when I finally opened my eyes and saw just how jaded and prejudiced the Legion had become."

"For a few years, I kept my doubts to myself," she explained. " I tried to avoid shaking the status quo. But after a while I just couldn't bury my conscience any longer. I confided in my new lieutenant in the hopes that he'd understand what I was going through, but instead he killed me, and then tracked me down in my next life and took me from my biological family, hoping to "purge my weakness with training and discipline." Thankfully, I met Jake and he helped me break away from the dogma again and by the time my memories returned, I'd burned all my bridges with my fellow Unchained."

Kairi remained silent as Rose finished her tale, and spent the next several moments contemplating what she'd learned. She'd learned more about the Keyblade War in one conversation than she had in any of Braig's vague hints and cryptic messages. She understood what had lead Rose to where she was today, and while she was reticent to simply ignore everything the blond-haired woman had done as an Unchained, she was quickly beginning to see her as a friend. As they returned to the ship discussing Rose's defection from the Legion, Kairi couldn't help but wonder how they could free Rose from her immortality without killing her. Death by X – Blade shouldn't be the only way for her or any other Unchained who came to tire of their immortality and realized how far they had fallen to release themselves.

* * *

#### Titan's Refuge – Chitauri Catacombs

#### October 7th, 2021

Lily had not had a typical childhood or a traditional education, to say the least. Because her parents' enemies were constantly looking for them, they couldn't leave the Kiln very often. That didn't mean that her childhood was all blood and killing, however. The Red Skull would read her bedtime stories, Cruella would take her shopping for clothes, and Captain Hook taught her how to defend herself. Her parents would sing her lullabies as she drifted off to sleep, and despite the relative instability of their situation, she was happy with her life. She had parents who loved her and spent all their time with her when they weren't out trying to conquer the universe. She had an extended family who took care of her when her parents were working and would protect her with their lives. She was well fed and taught how to protect herself from anyone who would try to take her from her parents.

While her living situation wasn't ideal, she was old enough to understand that her parents had to keep their location secret in order to avoid being killed or thrown in prison. She appreciated that they tried to give her more time to be a kid, but that didn't mean that she never eavesdropped on their conversations. Like right now, for instance. She was currently crouched in the shadows at the mouth of the catacombs leading down into the inner depths of their Sanctuary listening to her mother and her inner circle argue about recent developments and plan their battle tactics for the future.

"We've lost control of the tower in Corona," she heard Captain Hook comment. "Those Legionnaires are becoming more and more troublesome by the day. For every one of their bases we take out, they wreck two more of ours. We need to find their bases and destroy them."

"And how do you propose we do that, exactly?" Loki retorted. "The instant we board their ships they wipe their hard drives of any information that couple help us track their installations."

"True," came the voice of Gideon Malick, last surviving head of HYDRA. "But at the same time, I may have a lead that may help us. I've received word from our remaining HYDRA agents that Vanitas' C.I.N. agents have arrived on Earth with vital intelligence salvaged from an Unchained base on Morag."

"And?" Her father inquired. "Come on, Gideon. Don't tell me that's it. You've probably got more to it than that or you wouldn't bring it up."

"Too soon to say," Malick replied. "My sources say the stolen files are heavily encrypted and they're still decrypting them as we speak."

"Excellent," her mother added. "We'll let them finish accessing the data, steal it, and then start hunting." Lily didn't understand half of the words the adults were saying, but she got the gist of it. Those mean Legion people were getting in the way of her parents' plan to take over the universe, and they needed to wait for the goody goodies from the Coalition to finish cleaning the computer stuff that would tell them where to find the Legion's main base before they could make a move. Satisfied that she was up to date on what was going on, Lily slipped back into the catacombs and back to her bedroom before her parents came to tuck her in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Information on all the artifacts hidden in Odin's Vault comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe wiki. Some of them are important to this series, while others like the Tuning Fork and Tablet of Life are being saved for after the series after this one. 
> 
> I was just starting this fic when the whole Hydracap mess started back in 2016. While I despise the whole thing as much as anyone else who sees how blatantly the idea of Cap having been Hydra all along disrespects the character and his creators, the image of Red Skull reading to the humanoid cosmic cube girl lodged itself in my brain, and when I decided to write a chapter from the POV of Maleficent's daughter, I couldn't stop thinking about that image. 
> 
> Inhumans was still being planned as a movie back when I wrote this, rather than the dull and disappointing TV show it ended up being. But when I wrote this, I had been trying to come up with an explanation for why the Inhumans on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. never mention the Inhuman Royal Family. I combined that with my desire to show the geopolitical landscape at the time of the Keyblade War, and the lore of the ancient Inhuman Empire was born.


	4. City of Hheroes

#### City of Heroes – Nomanisan Island

#### October 8th, 2021

"Damn those Hellfire scum," Lerena cursed as she ignored the blaring sirens while storming through the corridors of the Unchained facility. The island lair had once belonged to some local supervillain named Syndrome had used the island as his secret base fifteen years ago, but had been abandoned after his death and the destruction of his "Omnidroid." Now it was a secret outpost for the Unchained Legion. The facilities were a lot nicer than that run down base on Morag in Lerena's opinion. She was just glad that Gao was the one who had to suffer through that now instead of her.

While Lerena was a true believer in the sanctity of the Endgame, she did agree with Skuld that Gao's idea of turning incorrigibles into animals was a tad too extreme. Which was why she and Aurilam had planted enough evidence at the site of her labs in the Great Forest and the Circus to attract the attention of Coalition Intelligence and let them destroy Gao's power base for them. Life in the Unchained Legion was a complex series of alliances and double crosses. When you were stuck with immortality, you tended to take long term plans like the Endgame slowly. That left too much time for rivalries and grudges to ferment within the ranks.

Ephemer's charisma made sure that everyone contributed to the plan and stayed on task. But after eight thousand years with minimal progress, the restless Unchained turned their manipulations inward, scheming to advance their position in the ranks even as they manipulated the outside world towards their own goals. And look where that got them. For eight thousand years, they had tried and failed to build empires that would spread to all corners of the globe. Rome. Britain. China. Japan. Spain. France. Persia. Time after time, they tried to build up a civilization that would unite humanity under a single banner, but mortal greed and competition among the Unchained toppled their efforts every time.

If Braig hadn't formally appointed Skuld as his successor, Lerena feared that the Legion would have torn itself apart over the line of succession. As it was, Gao and Stone were at each other's throats, while Robert spent all his time at S.H.I.E.L.D. working on ways to build himself a power base outside of the Legion. Sometimes, the blonde Unchained felt that it was only herself, Aurilam, and Skuld keeping the Legion running smoothly. The Centurions served as regional commanders, with the Decurions acting as squad leaders. The Legionnaires were the true foot soldiers of the Unchained Army, but regardless of rank everyone ultimately answered to the Novus Imperator.

 _But if anyone starts to sense that Skuld's having doubts,_ Lerena thought as she marched through the corridors towards the command center.  _Then it will entice the others to make a move. At least with Gao's power base broken, we can demote her if she screws up on Morag, which she probably will._ Pushing those thoughts out of the way for now, she stormed into the command center and turned to the security technicians seated at the computers.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded as she conjured her kunai in her fists. The fight with Rose in the Hollow Bastion was the first time she'd used her Keyblade since World War I, and she was determined to avoid having to use it again unless absolutely necessary. Over the millennia, all Unchained had come to view Keyblades as the cause of the ancient conflict, and only used theirs as a last resort out of shame for the destruction their brethren had caused during the Keyblade War.

"The Hellfire Club is attacking from above with Dark Elf ships," the man in charage of the base's security reported. "Aerial defenses have eliminated a few of the dropships, but two of them have managed to land in the jungle. Troops are engaging them now, but they're pressing in to the compound itself."

"Send out the old Vipers we found in the hangar," she ordered, referring to Syndrome's old helicopter-like dropships they'd discovered upon their taking ownership of the island. "Order the pilots to use aerial bombardment to take those bastards out." The technician quickly began relaying her orders over the intercom when another communications officer called out to her.

"Warden," he exclaimed. "Coalition forces have landed on the beach."

* * *

#### Lorwardia – Tribal Capital

#### October 8th, 2021

"Pitiful," Maleficent remarked as she surveyed the carbon-scored buildings all around her. "After a thousand years, the two bit thugs of Lorwardia can't be bothered to plan any further ahead than what defenseless planet they'll raid next." Lorwardia was one of the handful of planets on the fringes of the United Galactic Federation designated as "unstable territory." This referred to planets where coups and revolutions were so common that the planet lacked any semblance of a stable central government. In the case of Lorwardia, it was simply because the various tribes operated under the rule that only the strongest among them would govern their world. To that end, the five tribes were constantly jockeying for the top spot, giving no thought to long term stability beyond what they'd do once they took power.

Maleficent had come here in search of new weapons and ships in preparations for the Hellfire Club's war against the Legion. Malekith was busy spreading fear and chaos throughout Coalition space to keep the warriors of the Keyblade off her scent, with Loki and Nebula following along to keep the Dark Elf king in line. But when she saw the state that the planet of warlords was in, she felt nothing but disgust. If she was going to get the ships and weapons she needed, she'd need to take control of the planet herself. And the only way to achieve power was to challenge the chiefs of all five tribes and defeat them in single combat. It was a risky gamble, for one wrong move would seal her doom and deprive her daughter of her mother.

But between her considerable magical prowess, her skill at hand to hand combat, and the benefit of a fleet crewed by warriors personally loyal to her and her alone, Maleficent decided that it was well worth the risk. With a whirl of her hand, Maleficent stormed into the ruined chamber that passed for a throne room to whichever upstart warloard was currently in charge. With a simple Firaga spell she blasted the door inward and marched towards the throne, her long robes billowing in the wind behind her with Captain Hook and Diablo flanking her on either side. As she marched into the room, the green-skinned Lorwardian stood up and drew his weapon, a look of indignation on his face.

"Who dares enter the throne of War'tog, ruler of Lorwardia unannounced?" The muscular man demanded. Maleficent grinned insidiously as she removed her long robes to reveal the more freely moveable combat gear beneath. She knew she had him before the fight had even started. Behind her, Hook and Diablo backed up towards the door. The traditional Lorwardian ritual of deciding leadership through single combat dictated that all subordinates remain on the sidelines. Their actions told the Lorwardians that whoever these outsiders were, they had come here looking for a fight.

"I am Maleficent of the Enchanted Dominion," the green skinned fairly replied with a contemptuous sneer. "I had hoped to barter with you for ships and weapons, but given the state of your planet, the most expedient way to get what I want is to challenge you for the throne in single combat. Defeat me and my allies and I will leave you be. But if I win, you and your entire tribe will bow down to me, the MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL!" War'tog scoffed at this notion. While not actively partriacrchal, the Lorwardian's tribe was one of the two remaining factions who still looked down on women. Maleficent would enjoy putting him in his place.

"Unless," she went on. "You're too much of a coward to face me." The alien man's eyes narrowed as he stepped down from his throne and handed his cloak, his badge of office to his warriors to hold for the duration of the battle. Two Lorwardian soldiers raced outside to raise up a flag that would indicate to any of the other tribes looking to invade the capital and take over the planets leadership that there was already a challenge for leadership in progress. Tradition dictated that nobody was allowed to interfere with the duel until after its conclusion. But none of that mattered to Maleficent. Once she defeated War'tog, she would do the same to the other four tribal leaders.

And them, she would have ships, weapons, and a whole new army to replace their diminishing number of Leroys. Maleficent handed her scepter to Captain Hook and traded it for a blade. The Lorwardians, while not distrustful of magic and possessing advanced technology, valued skill with more traditional weapons above all. So all challenges for leadership were fought the old fashioned way, with swords, spears, and shields. But Maleficent knew she didn't need a shield. Her opponent was angry, impatient, unbalanced. And with a defiant roar from the upstart warlord, the battle began.

* * *

#### City of Heroes – Nomanisan Island

#### October 8th, 2021

"I suppose the one good thing about all the bad guys fighting each other," Rose observed as she, Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy led a strike team of Coalition soldiers through the corridors of the Unchained compound on the island of Nomanisam. "Is that they use up more resources and energy fighting each other than they do on the Coalition, leaving us with greater chances of success." Kairi nodded her head in agreement as she launched a Pearl spell at an approaching swarm of Heartless the Hellfire Club had sent to attack the Legion.

"True," Kairi commented as she parried a blow from one of the Unchained Legionnaires who wasn't fighting the heartless. "But that still leaves us with twice as many enemies as usual." Riku grunted in acknowledgement of Kairi's point as he sealed the corridor behind them with a Dark Firaga spell launched at the control panel. This cut the number of opponents they were facing in half and forced the enemy forces on the other side of the door into a bottle neck for Coalition troops to deal with in one strike.

"But what are we gonna do about the Unchained?" Donald asked as he finished off the last of the Heartless with a Thundaga spell.

"Leave that to me," Rose commented darkly as she plunged her Keyblade into the chest of another immortal Keyblade Master who came charging blindly around the corner of the base. "I remember hearing about this facility from Natasha a few years ago," she explained. "We'll split up and cover more ground that way." Riku nodded as he, Donald, and Goofy peeled off and went began making their way towards the hangar to keep both sides from escaping. Meanwhile, Rose and Kairi continued their thrust towards the command center. Eventually, they came acros a sealed door. With no key in sight, they checked the other two and found only one unlocked.

Sensing a trap, they repeated the process in the next room, and again, only one door of the three they could choose from was unlocked. After following the trail for several minutes, they emerged into a large chamber with a massive oblong metal pod in the center of the room, hovering beneath a small flight of stairs. And standing at the bottom of those stairs was a former Organization member that both women were far from pleased to see again.

"Long time no see, Valerie," Lerena commented, referring to the name Rose had gone by during the Keyblade War. "I'm going to enjoy punishing your betrayal, and as for the Princess…" She turned her attention on Kairi. "I'm going to enjoy putting ending you for all the trouble you caused us back when "Marluxia" and I were undercover trying to help Braig take down the Organization from within. If it hadn't been for you, Namine wouldn't have gotten ideas above her station, and Sora wouldn't have fallen into darkness. So now I get to kill you for setting us back so many years."

"And what makes you think the other six princesses won't end up collateral damage?" Rose retorted. "We both know that the Princesses of Heart are the only thing holding back the return of the Fallen Ones." Rose smirked to herself when she saw Lerena flinch at the mention of their sworn enemies' name. Even after eight thousand years, the mere mention of the Fallen Ones was enough to send chills running down the spines of even the most hardened Unchained.

While not even the Unchained Legion knew how long the Keyblade War's cycle of death and rebirth had been going on for, the one thing everyone knew was that the first Keyblade War had been fought hundreds of thousands of years ago, at the very dawn of creation itself. The Fallen Ones were corrupted servants of Darkness so powerful that not even the power of the X – Blade could destroy them. With no other way to defeat them, all the First Keyblade Master could do was banish them to the farthest corners of the universe. So far from Earth that they were flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy entirely. And in this new cycle, the hearts of the seven Princesses formed an enchanted barrier that kept all of them from returning to Earth.

It was the one thing that every Unchained, regardless of their feelings on the Endgame or the ethics of their goals, could agree on. Talzin, Chernabog, Lucifer, Vaatu; None of the Fallen could be permitted to return to Earth. That was the purpose of Stone's branch of the Legion, the Chaste: to eliminate all knowledge of the Fallen ones and ensure that the barrier that kept the demons at bay from now until the end of time. Rose was grinning now. She had her bargaining chip.

"Of course," Rose taunted. "If you're still so desperate to finish Kairi off, feel free to go ahead and try. But do you really want to be the one who starts the dominos falling by weakening the seal that holds the Fallen Ones back?"

"You win this round, traitor," Lerena spat as she disappeared through a corridor of Light. "But the Imperator has given our old friend Robert authorization to reverse the damage you've done to the Hunstclan division." As her old friend vanished from the world, Rose's face paled in horror. Wishes granted by the Aztec skulls she'd used to destroy the Huntsclan were supposed to be irreversible, but they had originally been a weapon of mass destruction developed by the Ursus guild during the war before being hidden away so that the defenders of light couldn't get their hands on them. Although the skulls had been dispersed, Unchained spies within the Ursus ranks were able to study them enough to figure out how to undo their effects. The notes had been buried in one of the old Hunstlairs somewhere on Earth. But if High Praetor Gonzales managed to get a hold of them….

"We're screwed," Rose observed as she finished her train of thought out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fifteen years is a reference to how The Incredibles 2 was originally planned to come out in 2019 before they moved it up to summer 2018.


	5. Shooting Stars

**The Lanes Between – Jumba Jookiba's Spaceship**

**October 15th, 2021**

"Lorwardia!?" Jumba gased incredulously as the ship emerged from Hyperspace into orbit over the infamous green world. "What is there about slimeball planet that Unchained find so interesting?" They'd spent the last week investigating the points mapped out on the Unchained Legion's maps, and after a few refueling stops, they had finally managed to reach the second to last place they needed to investigate.

"Hang on," Tony jumped in as Stitch began working his magic under the dashboard trying to get the cloaking device Jumba had installed years ago back online. "I think I remember these guys. Weren't they the ones who sent out those giant walkers back in 2007 only to be stopped by Kim Possible but S.H.I.E.L.D. covered the whole thing up?"

"They are," Nick Fury answered with a collected nod as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "And I was hoping that Warmonga and Warhok were just extremists who acted on their own."

"It's complicated," Thor explained. "Lorwardia lacks a true government, for all the different tribes are constantly at war over the planet's throne. Those two were able to attack Earth because they were the rare Lorwardians who had the capacity to think beyond their petty day to day concerns and recognize the potential of what they could do with their technology. Ships of the make used in their attack on Earth are still built on Lorwardia, but they rarely travel farther than a few star systems from home."

"All the same," Steve commented. "We need to make sure they don't figure out that they're here." Almost as soon as the words left Captain America's lips, a fleet of warships that looked like battleaxes emerged from behind the planet, heading right towards the small ship from Earth. Before anyone could comment, their ship's console began to beep, indicating that they were being hailed. Seeing as they had no idea if they even knew who they were, Sora cautiously answered the transmission even as Jumba began to turn the ship around. The brunette Keyblade Master's blood ran cold as a familiar voice emerged over the comm frequency.

"Hello, Sora," came the voice of a familiar witch. "And here I was hoping the Tesseract had killed you."

"What do you want, Maleficent?" he demanded. His dark battle suit (nearly identical to Vanitas' only with white highlights instead of red) began forming around him as he spoke, already anticipating a fight. Fury, Jake, and the Avengers tensed as they listened to the voice of the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" for the very first time.

"Always so blunt, aren't you," the green-skinned fairy replied coyly. "But in any case, given that you can clearly see my new armada, I think what I want should be quite clear to you." For a moment, nobody in the cockpit of Jumba's ship said anything. They all knew what this show of force was meant to accomplish: their destruction. Without warning, the comm channel closed and the armada opened fire on the heroes' ship. Stitch took the controls and dove quickly, but not before one of the lead warships score a glancing blow across the ship's stern. Alarms shrieked in the cockpit as the Avengers scrambled into their seats.

"Hyperdrive damage critical," a computerized voice announced from the ship's console. "System disabled." Everyone looked at each other in surprise and panic. Without the hyperdrive, it was going to be a race to see how long they could outrun the armada. And without a hyperdrive, they would soon run out of fuel, then the Lorwardians would reduce them to atoms. Without hesitating, Jumba put the ship into a corkscrew while Stitch crawled back through the ventilation ducts to try and fix the H-Drive himself. But despite the best efforts of both, they kept taking heavy fire. Tony was halfway into his suit (which he'd upgraded for space flight over the years) when the attacking warships began taking fire themselves.

"Attention suicidal idiots," a voice with a light New Jersey accent called out over the comm channel. "This is the Milano. We can give you a lift out of here if you're perfectly fine with not dying." With no other options, Fury replied that they would be grateful for the rescue as Jumba and Stitch put their ship on an intercept course with the new arrival. With the armada distracted, Stitch began returning fire as they prepared to dock with the Ravager ship. Sora took the lead as they scrambled into the Milano and disengaged the docking tube, leaving Jumba's old ship to drive unpiloted through Lorwardian space as the armada began to fire again. The Milano took off into Hyperspace while Jumba's classic ship was blown to pieces by plasma fire.

While Jumba and Stitch looked out the airlock window moruning the fate of the old ship that they'd grown attached to over the years, everyone else was slumped against the wall, their panic subsiding as they made their way to their next destination, wherever that may be. Sora volunteered to go up and ask the captain where they were going, and was gone to the cockpit before the rest of the Avengers could tell him that they already knew whose ship this was. So the Keyblade Master was in for the surprise of his life when he reached the upper cabin and found himself face to face with what appeared to be a walking tree. His surprise only multiplied when the tree smiled and spoke three simple words.

"I. Am. Groot."

* * *

**Shooting Star Milkshake Bar – Dining Room**

**October 16th, 2021**

"This place is pretty neat," Sora commented as the combined rosters of the Avengers and the ragtag bunch of renegades often referred to as the Guardians of the Galaxy were gathered around a large booth at the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar, one of the galaxy's premiere restaurants. After yesterday's Lorwardian fiasco, the group stopped at the nearest space station to refuel and sleep. The food they had on the space station was terrible at dinner, so Peter Quill, the owner of the Milano and the "Guardian's" de facto leader, recommended this place. "I just can't believe that the owners bought this place when they were ten," the Keyblade Master added/

"Phineas and Ferb sure do a lot of things that everyone else considers difficult or outright impossible," Jake commented with an amused laugh. "It's part of their charm." The young men in question were already out of college by now, and both had made names for themselves as two of the most brilliant minds on the planet. Even Tony thought that those two were geniuses, which was  _really_ saying something. Sora was going to enjoy holding that over Tony that the billionaire thought two kids who were half his age were smarter than he was. The laughter and merriment died down, though, when three familiar silver haired young men walked into the restaurant.

In an instant, Sora was on his feet, Keyblade in hand.  _What are Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz even doing here?_ He wondered to himself as the three illegitimate children of Sephiroth noticed him and readied their own weapons. At the sight of the impending battle, the whisper of news carried around the room from patron to patron. In an instant, every weapon in the bar was drawn and aimed at either the Keyblade Wielder or the angel's bastards.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," the bartender interrupted. You got any beef to pick with each other, ya take it outside." Reluctantly, Sora and the three Inhuman men dismissed or sheathed their weapons when Quill walked in between the two groups. That didn't stop them from glaring at each other though, but the rogue would take whatever he could get. Despite the glares, the freaks with silver hair seemed to be looking at him with a degree of curiosity for some reason.

"Ok, we all hate each other," Star Lord interjected. "I get that. But can we at least walk into a bar without trying to kill each other?" As he spoke, the trio's eyes widened, whether due to surprise or shock, Peter had no idea whatsoever. Nor could he guess as to why. After a short murmured conversation interrupted by passing a slip of paper among themselves, the three mercenaries turned around to face the heroes.

"Unfortunately not," Loz commented as he tossed Sora a piece of paper with a string of galactic coordinates printed on them. "We have no quarrel with you, Keyblade Master. Our business with Maleficent was for the sake of restoring our father to life. But if you insist on a fight, come to Maveth. We'll finish this there. On one condition." The oldest of Sephiroth's offspring turned nodded in the direction of Peter Quill. "Bring him with you." With that, the three siblings opened a Dark Corridor and turned to go.

"We'll see you there, big brother," Yazoo remarked towards Quill as the trio disappeared through the Corridor before it closed behind them.  _Brother?_ Peter wondered incredulously to himself as he stared at the spot they had once stood in shock.  _They can't really be related? Can they?_

* * *

**Deep Space – Grand Councilwoman's Office**

**October 17th, 2021**

Grand Councilwoman Nitayata Simalan was not in a good mood this morning. Between all the pointless political bickering in the galactic congress and the ominous radio silence from the Lorwardian raiders, she was completely exhausted and desperately in need of a chance to blow off steam. If only Senator Pelekai hadn't gone back to Earth until today. Talking to Lilo was always guaranteed to brighten up her mood. Over the last decade and a half, the Grand Councilwoman had become something of a maternal figure towards the young human girl, showing her the ropes and helping her adjust to galactic society. Lilo was gaining a great deal of popularity in the council, and Simalan had pegged the girl as the best candidate for her successor.

Much of the galaxy was still disdainful towards Earth and humanity, but Lilo had a certain charisma about her that made others take her seriously regardless of the listener's species. Why, during her experiment hunting years, she'd created a metropolis of insects who began worshiping her as a god. If that wasn't proof of her ability to persuade people than what was? The girl was certainly an eager beaver, but for her to really make it in the political arena, she'd need the endorsement of multiple prominent council members. Nitayata was already starting to introduce her to some of the politicians whose support she would need at Council functions, but she still had a few more months before she needed to announce whether she was going to run or not.

All thoughts of convincing Lilo to run for the position off Grand Councilwoman in the next election were forced out of her mind by the sudden blarring of alarm bells and the violent shaking of the room. Nitayata's eyes widened in horror as she looked up at the skylight to find an entire fleet of Lorwardian battle ships raining plasma fire down on the surface of Turo. Without hesitation, the teal-skinned Grand Councilwoman grabbed the plasma rifle that she kept hidden under her desk for emergencies such as this. And just in time, too, as the shadows around the door began to convalesce into solid, vaguely familiar shapes.

With a whirl, Nitayata launched into the fray, blasting the oncoming Heartless with both her rifle and the pistol she kept holstered on her legs. Around her, her bodyguards charged into the rooms with their electro-staves and began thinning out the herd.  _Times like this make me glad I started carrying this pistol everywhere,_ the Councilwoman thought to herself with a wry smile as she pistol whipped one of the attacking Neoshadows into submission with a single strike. A few more blasts later, and she was free of the swarm. She and her guards bolted down the corridor towards the security center, and was relieved to find that the staff inside were unaffected.

"STATUS REPORT!" She demanded as she stormed into the room. "Why is Lorwardia attacking now? They've never come this far from their home world before!"

"Unknown, your excellency," one of the technicians reported. "We've bee hailing them, but they refuse to answer, and we have to deal with these monsters on top of that. The Galactic Armada is spread thin, and the defense grid in orbit has been all but destroyed." Suddenly, it clicked where Nitayata had seen creatures like these before. Aboard the Durgon, nearly twenty years ago, the memory of the Unversed outbreak was seared in her mind as fresh as if it had only happened just yesterday. And in an instant, she realized that, far from being pure coincidence, these creatures had come  _with_ Lorwardia's invasion, and the invasion was being goaded on by whoever created these creatures.

"Contact the Millano," she ordered. "Contact Earth. Send a message to anyone in all the surrounding systems who can spare the resources to aid us. This is clearly a siege, and our citadels were not designed with prolonged campaigns in mind. As the technicians around her scurried around to carry out her orders, Nitayata Nitamalin could only offer up the silent hope that they would last long enough for help to arrive.  _Because otherwise, we don't stand a chance,_ she thought desperately to herself. _We can only hope that Aqua or someone like her with the skills to handle this outbreak hears our message and comes to remove these creatures from the equation._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the idea of Maleficent invading Turo since before I ever came up with the idea of the Acolytes of Chaos saga, and I figured that if I was going to give the Grand Councilwoman a POV section, I had to come up with a vaguely sci-fi sounding name. So I basically spelled the name of Orphan Black star Tatiyana Maslani backwards.


	6. One Winged Angel

#### Maveth – Angel's Fortress

#### October 16th, 2021

Peter Quill, known throughout the galaxy as the legendary rogue Star Lord (although that had more to do with his actions in saving Turo from Ronan than his status as a semi-reformed thief), was not an easily surprised man. With how crazy his life was compared to his early childhood on Earth in the early 1980s, he had pretty much seen it all. The idea of his long lost father as a planet hopping assassin for hire shouldn't have surprised him. But when combined with the fact that his dad had been dead for years and he had three half-brothers who had the chance to know their father growing up, it rocked him to his core.

They had arrived on Maveth fully intent on confronting the silver-haired trio over their role in this "Hellfire Club's" attack on Asgard last month. Sora wanted to stop them before their actions hurt anyone else, while Star Lord was curious to find out if they really were related. They were greeted at the door by a grouchy looking man named Hojo, who introduced himself as the butler of the small castle where the three warriors lived. Hojo was apparently the father of some guy in the Coalition Army that a mercenary named Sephiroth was cloned from. Hojo had been taken from his home planet of Radiant Garden after its near-destruction, an event that Sora and the cataclysm's survivors referred to as The Fall.

Sora had explained to Quill the gist of where he had come from and the whole Keyblade mythos, but it was a lot to take in at once. Anyway, once inside, they were escorted to the dining room, where the three silver-haired mercenaries insisted that the outlaw, the dragon, and the Keyblade Master join them for dinner. The Avengers and Quill's fellow "Guardians" had been asked to wait outside, while Jake had been asked to come along because dragons (and Quill was amazed to learn that dragons and other supernatural creatures were real) were often asked to be neutral mediators.

Before anyone was willing to eat, Quill insisted on asking what they had meant when the silver-haired trio referred to him as their brother. Kadaj had obliged by telling him the story of their father, Sephiroth. As proof, they produced the communications records of the infamous "One-Winged Angel" contacting Yondu and offering him 40,000 Units to pick the young Peter Quill up and deliver him here to Maveth. With that shred of proof, the pieces began to fall into place, and Peter broke down in tears, demanding to know where their father was now.

"Ask him," Kadaj replied angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the brunette Keyblade Wielder sitting next to him. Confused, Quill turned to Sora with a look of hopeful expectation on his face.

"Sephiroth's last job was to capture two friends of mine," Sora answered. "He hunted them across half a dozen different worlds until they finally managed to drive him off. He showed up again in the middle of a huge battle between the Coalition, the Hellfire Club, and Organization XIII. A bunch of us ended up having to fight him when he came after us in the middle of the battle. He died in that fight." For a few moments, Quill could only gape at the younger man in shock as the fact that the father he never knew was dead hit him with the force of a jackhammer. After taking a few minutes to process this, he studied Sora with a look of hardened anger on his face.

"Did  _you_ strike the final blow?" he demanded. He liked the kid, but he was torn on how to react to the news of his father's death. On the one hand, from the way Sora and Yondu had both described him, Sephiroth was a ruthless mercenary who killed for profit and whose favorite pastime was tormenting the guy he was cloned from. But on the other, from his half-siblings' stories, he genuinely cared about his children and the women who gave birth to them. Sora returned his glare with a look of sympathetic honesty that said he knew how the older man was feeling.

"No," Sora responded. "Cloud, the guy your dad was cloned from, was the one who did that." Quill nodded in tearful understanding. It made sense that the guy his dad had tormented for over a decade would want to kill the person who'd been killing the people closest to him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive "Uncle Cloud" as Kadaj called him, for depriving him a chance to know his father, but he at least understood why his father had died. Kadaj walked over from across the table to place a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"If you ever want to talk to us about him," the youngest of Sephiroth's children said. "We'll be right here."

"Thanks," Peter replied. "But right now, I just need some time to be alone." With that, Quill got up and strode out of the castle back to the Milano. He still intended to talk to his brothers and get to know them, but now he just wanted to process the info dump he'd just been given in solitude. While Jake eyed the outlaw's silver-haired brothers warily, Sora just stood up and looked at them.

"Coalition Intelligene figured out why you've been working for Maleficent," the Keyblade Master explained. "I get that you're trying to bring you dad back from the dead. I understand why you're doing it. If it was my dad, I'd be trying to do the same thing. But as much as I can sympathize with what you're doing, your dad still killed a lot of people. And it's my duty as a Keyblade Master to make sure that he doesn't kill anyone else. I just want you to know that even though I still have to stop you, I get it." And with that, he and Jake stood up and followed Star Lord back outside to the spaceship. He wasn't worried about being making sure they didn't get away. If they turned up in Coalition Space, Mickey, Aqua, and the others would take care of them, and if they ended up on Earth, Vanitas' team would make sure they didn't hurt themselves or others.

* * *

#### Deep Space – U.W.S.  _Anguis_ :

#### October 17th, 2021

 _At last,_ thought the man known to his associates as Stone as he looked out the windows of the warship's bridge at the Lorwardian and Dark Elf spaceships tearing through the spaceships and gunnery stations in orbit of the Galactic Federation capital.  _The Hellfire Club can be culled from the universe, and the Unchained Legion can finally take possession of the Infinity Stones._ As a Praetor of the Legion's High Council, Jasson Sobolov and the troops under his command were charged with protecting Earth from the darkness of the Fallen Ones. While the power of the Princesses of Heart combined with the X – Blade itself kept them at bay, a group of the dark entities' followers called The Hand had been working to kill the seven and destroy the X – Blade in order to allow the Fallen Ones to return to Earth. But that war was a costly one.

Unchained were reincarnated when they died as long as they weren't killed by the X – Blade. But it took twenty-one years for their memories to return so that the sudden rush of recollection won't drive them insane. And the battles against The Hand ended up with a high level of casualties on both sides. To keep the ranks filled while reincarnating Unchained matured, Praetor Gao's research and development branch created a series of multi-colored pills which boosted the subject's strengths to superhuman levels for a few hours, just long enough to battle agents of the Hand in an incursion.

But then one day, a suicidally stupid and self-centered soldier they'd recruited through a front organization by the name of Bill Simpson, idiotically assumed that taking more of the red pills which boosted strength would increase it further. The massacre in Damascus resulted in Simpson's suspension from the program and strict regulation of the pills' dosage. And then while dealing with that pathetic little mind controller Kevin Thompson, Simpson overdosed again, and the Chaste had snatched him up themselves. As punishment, Simpson was reduced to serving as Gao's lab rat as she tried to figure out how to make the strength enhancements last longer, just like he wanted.

Irony could be a wonderful thing sometimes, but a few years back, the Hand broke into the facility where the pills were produced, destroying everything and wiping away the notes. With the mortal agents taken out of the picture, the ranks of the Chaste Battalion were dwindling rapidly. And now Gao's laboratories were being discovered and destroyed. Sobolov was not blind. He knew an attempt to reduce Gao's power base when he saw it. He'd orchestrated more than a few himself over the last eight thousand years. And while he bristled at the losses the Chaste were suffering as a consequence, he was glad to finally have someone knock Gao down a few pegs. Her little project for the Endgame was a bit disturbing in his opinion.

"Speak of the devil," he murmured aloud as he glanced down at the console in front of him. He tore himself away from the glorious symphony of combat going on outside the ship to see a light blinking to indicate an incoming transmission from Gao's last remaining laboratory on the abandoned world of Morag. Sighing, he pressed a button, and a semi-translucent video screen appeared in midair above the console. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Praetor Gao?" he asked, with enough false enthusiasm for anyone but an Unchained to mistake for genuine curiosity.

"Spare me the theatrics, Stone," Gao retorted, and the man blinked. It was unlike Gao to ever be this worked up. She usually dealt with every setback with the same serene calm that she always did.  _Perhaps she's figured out that her power base is being targeted by one of the other High Councilors,_ he mused to himself.  _She wouldn't be so revealing if she suspected me, though, which narrows it down to everyone but the Imperator._

"Well then what do you want?" he replied, annoyed at the interruption since he was needed to coordinate the battle. With High Praetor Gonzales busy trying to build his own power base on Earth, Stone was looking to increase his own influence by taking the man's place as head of the war fleet, and had already managed to earn himself this small battle group in time for the Hellfire Club to attack Turo. Knowing they were going after the Infinity Stone and eager to earn himself more purchase in Robert's sphere of influence, he'd taken thirteen ships and rushed off to the galactic capital to quell the Club's latest campaign. But Gao was so worked up that she didn't even bother trying to play word games with him.

"That  _boy_ and the off-world Avengers have found our facility on Morag," she replied. "They're cutting through the defenses like butter and they're heading for the lab. I need reinforcements." Stone froze, realizing the opportunity this presented for him. He could send a few dropships full of Unchained back to Morag to pull Gao out of the fire, or her could leave her there to burn. Even if she survived, her powerbase would be non-existent, and he could easily have her replaced on the High Council with someone who would be loyal only to him. And once he toppled Gonzales, he could promote Stick to head of the Chaste to fill his original seat as Praetor. Looking at the potential rewards, there was only one choice Jasson could make.

"I'm sorry, Gao," he answered. "But all of my ships are busy exterminating the Hellfire Club. Without Robert, most of the Unchained fleet will be tied up chasing down the villains' bases. I'm afraid that you're on your own." He sneered as he cut off the communications link over Gao's uncharacteristically frantic protests.  _She built her funeral pyre,_ he thought to himself as he looked up at the kaleidoscopic explosions of light and color as Hellfire and Unchained ships took shots at each other.  _Let her burn in it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to think of a way to incorporate Professor Hojo into the story in a way that didn't involve adding more complexity to the Fall of Radiant Garden, and when I was writing this chapter, I had the sudden inspiration of having Hojo be the butler/caretaker for Sephiroth's little retreat on Maveth. You all know from The Xehanort War that Sephiroth is basically Cloud's Vanitas (so yeah, Hojo is Cloud's dad instead of Sephiroth's in this universe), but the Guardians of the Galaxy can't really wrap their heads around that so they just interpret it as basically being a clone.
> 
> Sora and the Avengers going after the Unchained base on Morag (which is the planet where Peter Quill snagged the Orb at the start of Guardians of the Galaxy by the way) will happen next chapter, so don't worry that you missed anything.


	7. Morag

#### Treasure Planet – Benbow Inn

#### October 16th, 2021

"You're sure that the defenses will be minimal?" Kairi asked as she sat in a small corner table facing Vanitas' informant once more. They'd arrived on Montressor a week ago and had been staying at the Benbow Inn while Captain Amelia was busy acquiring the necessary travel documentation for her passengers. The cat-like alien had just called to inform them that she was on her way back to Montressor with the papers and that they would be ready to set off for Turo that evening. After a week of sitting around checking the galactic news for any sign of Sora doing what he did best, they were all anxious to get back on the road.

"Positive," Loki answered as he sipped his tea. "Maleficent's forces will be concentrating their firepower on Turo in order to draw the Legion out of their shell. She doesn't trust Malekith and his conspirators, so she's going to keep them by her side at all times. In the meantime, only a token garrison will be left behind to defend the Titan's Sanctuary. This will be the ideal time for you to infiltrate the facility and strike. With such a sudden attack on her seat of power, Maleficent will be forced to divert part of her fleet away from her invasion of Turo in order to protect the Sanctuary."

"But then who will deal with the Unchained and the other half of Maleficent's fleet?" Kairi retorted. "Us?" While Kairi had come far in her Keyblade training and she had two Keyblade Masters by her side, she doubted they'd be able to handle three separate armies all on their own. On the opposite side of the dining room, Donald and Goofy helped Mrs. Hawkins wait tables while Riku and Rose were having a sparring match out in the backyard.

"No," Loki replied with a chuckle. "I have it on good authority that your fiancé and my brother's friends from Earth are making their way towards Turo as we speak. The Unchained and the Club will cripple each other's fleets, Sora and the Avengers can mop up the rest, and you and your friend can have your happy reunions with your beloveds." Kairi blinked, stunned at the admission.  _Is he serious?_ She thought to herself nervously, although buried beneath the layers of compounded disappointment, the tiny ember of hope in her heart began to swell up into a raging fire once more.

"He's already on is way?" she repeated hopefully. She was anxious to find Sora again and if she hadn't imagined what Loki just said, she'd be seeing him much sooner than she had expected. While she was speaking to the Jotun sorcerer, Donald and Goofy had finished carrying plates and were making their way towards her. They had overheard her exclamation and were eager to see Sora again as well, although for entirely different reasons. Meanwhile, Riku and Rose had come in from their sparring session and were heading towards the table to ask Kairi what was going on.

"He is," Loki answered with a knowing smirk. "They should arrive at Turo shortly after the attack begins by my estimations. Here are the coordinates for the Sanctuary." He moved a slip of paper with a series of numbers and letters scribbled down on it. "Now if you'll excuse me," he went on. "I need to return to the staging area before Maleficent takes notice of my absence." With that, the prince of Asgard stood up and faded away in a glow of green light. Almost as soon as he had left, Captain Amelia walked in and announced that they had the passports they needed.

"Change of plans," Kairi told her. "We're going to be making one last detour on our way to Turo."  _Just a little bit longer, Sora,_ she thought to herself.  _We're almost there._

* * *

####  Morag – Unchained Laboratory

#### October 17th, 2021

 _Damn him!_ Praetor Gao fumed to herself as she stormed through the corridors of her currently besieged laboratory.  _Stone is clearly preparing to take advantage of my misfortune in order to enhance his own powerbase. Very well. If I have to keep clawing my way to hold onto my position, then so be it!_ Gao had originally started out as a low ranking Legionnaire back when the Unchained Legion was first formed. She was one of the last to be recruited by Foreteller Ava before her untimely murder at the hands of the Foreteller Leopardos, and her fellow Legionnaires had looked down on her during the Keyblade War as a "latecomer."

Her fellow soldiers' smug superiority over having been chose before her always made her blood boil. So she had spent the last eight millennia clawing her way to the top of the pyramid. She fought to improve her own station within the Legion, and she had come too far to let sabotage and sneak attacks by the corrupted Princess and her fallen fiancé destroy her power base now. Her monologuing was interrupted by the sound of one of her lab technicians calling out for her as she marched towards the compound's command center.

"What is it!?" she sapped as the technician scrambled to catch up to her.

"Our inner defenses have been breached," the nervous tech answered, shaking in fear of his commanding officer's wrath. "That boy and his compatriots have broken through into the compound itself. The laboratory has been compromised." The trembling researcher ducked as Gao slammed her fist against the wall of the corridor in rage.

"NO!" She roared. "HOW DID THEY GET INSIDE!?" The stuttering lab technician took several seconds for him to work up the courage to answer her enraged question.

"Th.. the…. They had access to security codes…. My Lad – " the researcher was cut off when Gao slammed her Keyblade through the man's chest. While forcing your subordinates to reincarnate was frowned upon by the rest of the Legion due to the temporary reduction of resources, Gao was beyond caring at this point. The seat of her power was under attack! She had no time for sniveling flunkies. As the man collapsed to the floor, her mind was already calculating the implications of the news. The false defenders of light had access to Unchained security codes. That could only mean that there was a leak in their communications network.

While it was always possible that the traitors Rose and Natasha had left the codes behind as leverage in the event of their capture, their spies indicated that Rose had been out of the loop for too long to maintain accurate knowledge of the Legion's security clearance codes. And while Natasha Romanov kept herself hacked into the communications network constantly, she kept her past as an Unchained to herself and withheld knowledge of the Legion from her colleagues. In any case, while she may have been able to tell her fellow "Avengers"  _what_ the facility on Morag was for, she'd been locked out of the network for the past two weeks so she would not be able to tell them how to get in.

That left Stone as the only possible source of the leak. It was just like the commander of the Chaste to pull a stunt like that to increase his own power. While their shadow war against The Fallen Ones and their followers was an important priority, Stone was an imbecile for believing that the Endgame was irrelevant next to the Hand. It was also no secret that he disdained her proposed method of cleansing the Earth of infidels and irredeemables for the Endgame. Putting all those facts together, it was perfectly in character for him to leak enough information to their enemies to allow for her laboratories to be destroyed and her support base crippled. Only now, it appeared that he was finally going for the full court press to destroy her power base all together.

 _Fool,_ she cursed to herself as she resumed her march to the command center.  _All you've done is shine a spotlight on the Legion and draw all of our enemies right to us._  Unfortunately, when she arrived in the central hub of the base, the company was entirely different. Instead of being greeted by weary but loyal Unchained Legionnaires, she found herself face to face with the warriors who had spent the last hour tearing through her base.  _Oh hell,_ she groaned silently to herself as she drew her Keyblade and slid into her customary fighting stance.

"I suppose I should congratulate you all on getting this far," she remarked calmly, her face not even registering a hint of her barely restrained anger. "After all," she went on. "It's not everyday that the Avengers or one of the famed heroes of the Xehanort War."

"Great," Iron Man sarcastically retorted. "The scary immortal Keyblade Master knows who were are." Gao fought to keep the surprise off her face. While their spies had confirmed that Vanitas' group of C.I.N. agents had made it to Earth and were currently aiding S.H.I.E.L.D., their sources did not say that they had made contact with the Avengers as well. Sora had already been transported to Earth by the time Rose had outed them to the Coalition, so that was the only way they could have learned of the Unchained's existence.

Madame Gao didn't say anything in response. She only grinned like a shark as she realized the perfect way to eliminate these intruders once and for all. From the folds of her robe, she produced a cluster of transformation potions she had been working on to deal with subjects who were not worth the effort of turning into livestock or game animals. Insect potions for those who needed to be destroyed once and for all. Everyone had clearly recognized what they were dealing with, for the former American Dragon immediately transformed into his disgusting reptilian form while Sora prepared his Keyblade and the traitorous Asgardian prince began swinging his hammer.

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to leave this facility alive," she explained. "My rival is busy attacking the galactic capital, and I must punish him for his latest attempt to undermine my power base. Unfortunately for you, I must grind you under my heel like the insects you are." With they, she wound up to throw, but before she could let the potions loose, three things happened. The first thing was that the American Dragon spat a ball of fire at the vials, causing them to explode and spill the potion all over  _her_ instead. The second was as she was shrinking down and transforming into a small insect, Thor flung his hammer at the space where she had been standing. He'd thrown overhand, so he missed where her head was standing and smashed down on her insectoid form. The last think Gao knew before her soul left her body for her next incarnation was the oozing  _squish_ of Mjolnir crushing down on her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this, I was originally planning to have Terra, Aqua, and Ven show up to help with a whole fleet of Gummi Ships and fight off the armada in time for Sora to swoop in and save the day. But after killing off Ven and Yuffie and deciding to have Maleficent move bases one more time, I changed it to have Kairi attack the Sanctuary to divert the Hellfire Club's forces away from Turo and force them to abandon the base.


	8. Deep Space

#### Deep Space – Outer System

#### October 17th, 2021

"Whoa!" Sora gasped as the Milano emerged from hyperspace into a massive three way space battle between the Hellfire Club, the Unchained Legion, and the rapidly dwindling defenders of the Galactic Federation's capital. Even from the edge of the system, the Keyblade Master could see that Turo was going to end up roasted no matter which faction won the battle. Especially if either Maleficent or the Unchained managed to get their hands on the Infinity Stone locked deep inside the planet's capitol building. Quill had explained about the stone on the way there, and now two of the largest remaining enemy factions in the universe had come to claim it as their own.

"Alright kid," Tony began, snapping the brunette out of his shock. "You know these guys better than anyone. What are we up against?" Sora blinked, and a quick glance around the cabin confirmed that both the Avengers and the Guardians were looking to him for leadership. He felt a sense of pride as he realized that Tony had a point. He'd fought the Hellfire Club for years, he'd memorized their battle tactics, how a lot of their members thought, what motivated them. Sora humbly thanked everyone for having so much faith in him before getting right down to the pre-battle briefing.

"The Lorwardian ships are a new thing for the Club," he began before looking at Nick Fury. "But I figured that since Earth has dealt with them before, S.H.I.E.L.D. might know how to deal with them." As expected, the former director nodded in agreement.

"Possible and Stoppable informed us that the ship they dealt with had an off switch in the engine room," Fury answered.

"Great," Sora replied. "Now the Heartless pirate ships they use are vulnerable on all of their external parts: attack the wheels, the canons, and the skull on the bow, and the ship will fall apart. All Heartless, airborne or grounded, Pureblood or Emblem, are immune to being destroyed by blunt force. You need to go after them with a cutting edge in order to defeat them. I don't have as much experience with the Unchained, but their ships are all made from Gummi Blocks using common Coalition designs. I know enough about the models they're using now to point out their week spots. We'll have to split into three groups: one team will go after the Unchained, one to take out the Lorwardian ships, and another to go for the Heartless fleet."

"Jake packed some magical air capsules," the Keyblade Master went on. "So he can fly two teams aboard the Lorwardian ships and commandeer extra ships: one to shuttle his own team from ship to ship after they hit the off switch on each one, and another to take the team to hit the Heartless pirate ships. The rest of you will stay aboard the Milano and take out the Unchained warships. Are there any questions?" Sora's sense of pride only increased when nobody on board the small spaceship questioned his leadership. They all trusted him.

"Alright," he continued. "Then here are the teams: Stitch, Jumba, Fury, Romanov, and Barton, you'll be taking on the Heartless armada. Quill, you and your team stay here and go after the Unchained fleet. Stark, your armor is capable of space flight, so you'll be providing support to either of those two groups. The rest of us will be taking out the Lorwardian fleet. Banner, we'll need the Hulk to give us an edge for when we actually have to fight any Lorwardians on board. Now let's move."

It was a testament to Sora's skill as a warrior, charismatic leadership, and ability to simply inspire everyone around him that everyone cheered enthusiastically. Even though Bruce Banner was always wary of the Hulk, even the "Other Guy" couldn't help but be inspired. There were very few people who the Hulk would ever take orders from. Captain American was one. And now Sora was another one. Without argument, the three groups all got into position. Jake passed out air capsules to nine of the eleven grouped around the airlock. Tony put on his face plate while Sora allowed darkness to form the all-environment body suit and accompanying helmet around his body.

Once everyone was ready, the airlock opened, the air capsules acticated, and the two teams were flung towards the nearest Lorwardian battle cruiser while the Milano peeled away and began firing on the nearest Unchained warship. Sora cast a high powered Reflega shield to deflect incoming laser fire from the group before cloaking everyone except Iron Man, who had already split off to draw the Lorwardian's fire away from the infiltration teams, with a Vanish spell. The nine heroes held their breaths as they silently fell towards the garbage hatch Fury had explained were on Lorwardian vessels.

True to form, the garbage chute opened and began dispensing large sacks of spaceship waste out into the stars. Pulses quickening, the group deftly dodged the oncoming trash and narrowly slid inside the bowels of the Lorwardian ship just as the hatch slid closed. Once they were inside the relative safety of the enemy battle cruiser, everyone turned to Sora to give out orders. Even Nick Fury, who prided himself on being in control of the situation at all times, acknowledged that the young Keyblade Master was more qualified to coordinate the battle at this time. A few minutes later, the ship's security forces were all focused on the emergence of a gigantic green figure who was tearing the inner workings of their ship apart.

While the Hulk kept the ship's security distracted, the two teams split up. Jumba, having been to Lorwardia back during his "Evil Genius" days knew the layout of their ships well enough for him to lead Stitch, Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to the hangar. Thanks to Banner going green and keeping the guards busy, the launch deck was relatively unguarded. While the Heartless extermination squad commandeered a Lorwardian troops shuttle, Sora was about to lead the rest of his team to the engine room to turn off the off switch when Steve offered a better idea.

"With security focused on the Hulk," Captain America explained. "They'll be too busy worrying about Banner to notice us until we've already ambushed them and taken control of the bridge." The captain didn't need to finish his sentence. The dots connected themselves in everyone else's heads. If they could get control of the bridge and start firing on the rest of the fleet, then they could disrupt the battle because the Hellfire Club would be too confused to figure out which ship was the one that had been boarded.

"Great idea," Sora replied. "We'll hit the bridge then. And hope they don't figure out what's going on until it's too late for them."

* * *

#### Titan's Sanctuary – Maleficent's Throne

#### October 17th, 2021

"You know," Kairi observed as the last Heartless vanished in a large cloud of smoke. "I know our source said that this place would only be lightly defended, but I was at least expected more of a challenge. I figured that we'd encounter more of those Leroy clones and not more Heartless. I thought Maleficent had learned by now that it'll take more than just a swarm of those things to slow us down." While Rose would have been hesitant to call that battle easy (for even quasi-immortal Keyblade Masters needed to strategize against their opponents instead of simply rushing in and cutting through monsters like butter), Kairi did have a point. Loki's intel indicated that the asteroid base's defenses would be lowered, but he hadn't said that it would practically be a skeleton crew.

"They may have more troops waiting in the catacombs," she suggested. "They probably figured that if anyone were to ever fly by, the Heartless could hide in the shadows and convince passersby that the compound was abandoned. Kairi nodded in agreement. It did make a good deal of sense. The only question now was how may guards were left inside the catacombs. That question was quickly answered when they walked into the first intersection just as a squad of Leroys rounded a corner from one of the surrounding tunnels and spotted them. From there, it was a flurry of action until they were able to duck inside a small room hidden in one of the side tunnels.

They were surprised when they found a little girl sitting amidst a pile of books and drawings in what was clearly a child's bedroom. For a moment, the five heroes could only stare in stunned silence as they pondered who this girl was and what she was doing here. Their first guess would have been that she was a prisoner, but the door was unlocked and she was clearly being well cared for. Before anyone could say anything, the girl looked up from her drawing and began to slowly back away from them.

"Are you here to kill my mommy and daddy?" the girl asked nervously.

"What!?" Kairi exclaimed. "No, no, sweetie. I wouldn't do that."

"That's not what daddy said," the girl replied. "He said that the Coalition would destroy them if they were ever found." Suddenly, it clicked to Kairi just why this little girl seemed so familiar. Her skin was more of a turquoise color, but even at a young age, the Princess of Heart could tell that the girl had inherited her mother's chin.

"Is… Is Maleficent your mother?" Kairi asked, unsure of if she was just grasping at straws of this girl really was Maleficent's daughter. However her theory was confirmed when the little girl nodded.  _Well this just got more complicated,_ she thought to herself as she shot a glance back at Riku, conveying "I know Maleficent and Hades are likely to be executed for everything they've done, but we can't let his little girl who's never done anything wrong grow up an orphan because of her parents' choices" with nothing but her eyes and facial expression. Thankfully, Riku got the message as he nodded in approval. He'd back her up when she explained to the Coalition legislature why Maleficent and Hades couldn't be given the death penalty. Donald and Goofy nodded in support as well, and Kairi breathed a sigh of relief as she turned back to face Maleficent's six year old daughter.

"Look, sweetie," the Princess of Heart began. "Your parents have broken a lot of laws and done some very bad things, and they have to go to jail for what they did, but I promise you that we'll bring them in alive."

"Pinky promise?" the girl asked in a cautious voice that just about broke the hearts (not literally) of all those present.

"Pinky promise," Kairi replied. "Now we have to get going now, okay?" After a few goodbyes, Kairi and the rest of her team slowly and quietly filed out of the room and closed the door behind them. No need for the girl to get caught in the crossfire. But as they crept back through the catacombs towards the exit, all Kairi could think about was how she was going to strangle Loki for not warning them that Maleficent was raising a child in the middle of her headquarters.

* * *

#### Earth – Atilan Throne Room

#### 6,000 B.C.E.

Explosions rocked the royal palace as Blackagar Boltagon paced from one end of his throne room to another. Ever since that wretch Jenova had allied with the Pro-Light Keyblade guilds, his empire had been under constant attack. With each passing day, more of his territory was chipped away, until finally Atilan itself was under siege. The Anguis Guild and the Unchained Legion had been bombarding the capital of the Inhuman Empire non-stop for the past week. Inhumans did not leave their homes in fear for their safety, and yet the death toll was already in the thousands.

Emperor Boltagon cursed Jenova's insatiable ambition and unpleasable arrogance. If she hadn't put her great grandfather on such a pedestal, then the Inhuman race wouldn't be facing extinction. Blackagar was under no illusions as to the trustworthiness of the Foreteller Leopardos in regards to the deal they had worked out for the war. He was well aware of the fact that Leopardos and Ursus hoped to topple the existing world order. But even if he was damning himself for his alliance with those who sought out the corrupting influence of Darkness, his one and only priority was keeping his people safe and alive. And now Jenova's greed was about to undo all his hard work.

Jenova's grievances against the Boltagon royal family were justified and well deserved, but her ideas of reparation were beyond what any sane sentient being would consider reasonable. Jenova was one of the last living descendants of General Alveus, the first Inhuman. Alveus had been engineered by the Kree to serve as the leader of their people, but Alveus' means of commanding the Kree's army was through parasitic mind control. Enraged at the loss of free will and disgusted with Alveus' idea of freedom (which consisted of the entire Inhuman species enslaved to a single hive with Alveus in the center), Black Bolt's great-grandfather Lash lead the remaining free Inhumans in an open rebellion, since his abilities allowed him to cure those infected by Alveus' spores.

With a few powerful energy blasts, Emperor Lash killed Alveus and drove the Kree empire off their planet. Paranoid that the Inhuman General's powers would be passed down to his descendants, Lash ordered the execution of every member of Alveus' family. Unfortunately for Lash, Alveus' pregnant wife managed to slip through the Inhuamn emperor's fingers. Lash's son refused to give in to mindless slaughter, and repealed the execution order on Alveus' descendants, but they were indefinitely forbidden from ever undergoing Terrigenesis. All Terrigen crystals would be tightly regulated and strictly controlled both to prevent those with world-destroying powers from going through the mists, and to keep Alveus' descendants from possibly acquiring their ancestor's powers.

Jenova had come to Atilan a year ago seeking reparations for the persecution of her family, wanting her descendants to finally be allowed to experience the Terrigen Mists. Were she more humble, Blackagar would have granted her request. But despite her claims of wanting her sister to experience their heritage, the Boltagon family could see the greed and ambition naked on her face. She didn't want Terrigen crystals for her family, she only wanted more power for herself. So the Inhuman genetics council, at Blackagar's recommendation, denied Jenova's request to undergo Terrigenesis.

But being rebuffed did not deter the arrogant young woman. Jenova kept coming back and resubmitting her request every few months, and each time she was denied. Now that the Keyblade War had broken out, she had taken another approach. Instead of asking Boltagon to undergo Terrigenesis, she told Anguis and Unicornis of his alliance with their enemies and convinced them to overthrow the Boltagon dynasty in order to cut off supply lines to the Seekers of Darkness. And once Black Bolt and the rest of the royal family were dead, she would undergo Terrigenesis and take the Imperial Throne for herself.

Emperor Boltagon was snapped out of his musings by a violent pounding on the ornate doors of the throne room.  _And so it begins,_ he signed to his wife Medusa as she raced to his side.  _If they wish to take out my empire, they'll have to kill us both. Will you speak for me?_ Medusa nodded. When her husband emerged from the Terrigen Mists, his voice was powerful enough that he could shatter bones with nothing but a whisper. To avoid destroying the entire planet, the Inhuman prince took a vow of silence. He did not speak, even in his sleep, and he communicated entirely through sign language. This required an interpreter to translate his signals and speak for him to others. First his family, and now his wife.

The pounding of the door finally ended in a splintering crash as the doors of the throne room were knocked inward. Dozens of Keyblade Wielders came swarming through the broken door and engaged the royal guards stationed in the room. While the Keyblade foot soldiers engaged his own troops, three leaders of the Keyblade guilds came marching up the stairs towards his throne. At the head of the grouped walked Invi, the Foreteller Anguis, flanked by two blond-haired women he recognized as Foreteller Ava's Unchained. As Invi marched up the stairs, the leader of the Anguis guild removed her hood to reveal a look of regret in her soft blue eyes.

"My husband and I do not wish to fight a friend," Medusa spoke as the three Keyblade wielders reached the top of the stairs despite the sounds of combat raging on around them. Invi had been close friends with the Inhuman Queen before her marriage to King Blackagar, and had remained friends ever since, although the recent conflict had put a strain on their relationship.

"Neither do I, 'usa," Invi replied sadly, her blue hair fluttering in the blue hair generated by the roar of combat all around the throne. "But your family's alliance with the forces of Darkness cannot go unpunished."

"We are doing what we have to to keep our people alive," Medusa protested. "Inhumans have been hated and feared for centuries. If King Lash had not carved out the Empire all those centuries ago, we'd have been the victims of genocide already. Only the borders of the Empire grant us any degree of respect in the world. And as much as I would prefer to continue our long standing policy of isolation, Inhumans out in the rest of the world are being lynched in the streets out of fear because your people are too busy killing each other to keep the peace. If the Inhuman Empire remains neutral, your war will destroy us. I'm sorry Invi, but we cannot sit idly by and allow our kind to be slaughtered in the crossfire."

Invi nodded in understanding as she pulled out her Keyblade, tears flowing down her cheeks at the thought of fighting one of her closest friends. But before anyone in the circle could make a move, they were interrupted by the alarming sound of a shrill klaxon coming from behind the throne room. Invi, Blackagar, and Medusa's eyes all widened in horror as they realized what was going on and bolted for the throne, all conflict forgotten. As an added security measure to control the spread of Terrigen crystals, Terrigenesis was only allowed to be conducted in a specialized chamber built into the back of the throne room. Access to the Terrigen chamber required a DNA scan from a member of the royal family. And all except Blackagar and Medusa themselves had been killed in the Unchaineds' burning of Inhuman settlements. The only person with the motivation to save a Boltagon's fingerprints and eyes would be…

"JENOVA!" Valerie screamed as the group reached the back of the room to find Inhuman woman was slowly enveloped in a stone cocoon behind a bulletproof glass door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started fleshing out the lore of the Keyblade War I knew I wanted to do flashbacks to at least one of the major campaigns. Originally, I wanted to have a full-length side-fic set entirely during the Keyblade War focusing on the events surrounding the campaign between the Unchained Legion and the Inhuman Empire, but I realized that ultimately it wasn't very practical with my schedule, so I did a few flashbacks instead. 
> 
> Back when I decided to include Simmons and Will in The Xehanort War, I knew the marvel elements of the story would ignore the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I wanted to include Lash and Hive in the story somehow because of how much I enjoyed the end of Season 3 anyway. So, as I was writing this chapter, I came up with the idea of Lash being Black Bolt's ancestor the same way that Hive is Jenova's as a bit of a foil.


	9. Hau'oli Hau'oli

#### Deep Space – Outer System

#### October 17th, 2021

"Rose, are you okay?" Kairi's voice snapped the blond-haired Unchained out of her flashbacks and back to the present. The sight of the Unchained warships and the Lorwardian battle cruisers duking it out in orbit over Turo had caused her to flash back to the last day of the Atilan Sieges, when she, Lerena (Ophelia back then) and the Foreteller Anguis storming Emperor Boltagon's citadel. So many lives had been lost that day, and only recently (technically a few decades ago, but time is relative when you're virtually immortal) did she begin to appreciate the tragedy of those caught between all the warring factions.

"I'm fine," she answered as the R.L.S.  _Legacy_ rocketed out of Hyperspace and towards the battlefield. "This just brings back old memories." Taking a moment to prepare herself, she followed the Princess of Heart down to the launch bay for the craft's longboats. As predicted, half the Hellfire Club's forces were in the process of jumping into Hyperspace back to the Titan's Sanctuary. No doubt Maleficent would be frantic to protect her daughter, and her panic had reduced the number of attackers laying siege to Turo. Most of the ones in orbit were clearing out, even as the ships in the atmosphere were coming up to engage the Unchained fleet.

As the group settled into the long boats, they went over what the plan was one last time. Five individual warriors could not hope to deal effective damage against two armadas, but if they could get control of one of the Lorwardian battleships, they could deal more effective damage by causing confusion among the ranks of the Hellfire Club troops. While they were dealing with the Hellfire Club, Captain Amelia would join the spaceship already there in fighting off the Unchained Legion. With some well-placed assistance from Jim Hawkins, a captain in the Galactic Armada who had been home on leave when the attack happened who had tagged along on their departure from Montressor, they were off.

While Jim stayed on the  _Legacy_ to help Captain Amelia run her ship, the quintet sailed through the system towards the nearest Lorwardian battle cruiser, unaware that stolen Lorwardian shuttle was approaching the same ship from the other side. With Rose in the lead, the group fought their way through wave after wave of Lorwardian soldiers and Unchained boarding parties. Eventually, they reached the bridge and were surprised to find another group of saboteurs already there. But what surprised them the most was the two people the ladies recognized as part of the group.

"JAKE!"

"ROSE!"

"SORA!"

"KAIRI!"

The two couples raced forward and embraced each other for the first time in weeks. Jake partially shifted back to human form and wrapped his wings lovingly around his wife as he pulled her in for a tearful embrace. Kairi dragged Sora close for a long, passionate kiss that left them both breathless by the time they finally broke apart. But right now, none of that mattered. After weeks of fruitless searching, their quests had come to their ends. They were finally together again, and at that moment, nothing else mattered.

* * *

"How long has it been since you started making your way here?" Kairi asked as she and Sora stood side by side on the bridge of the Lorwardian battle cruiser they'd commandeered. Since he had experience as a military commander, Steve took the helm while Thor manned the ship's gunnery deck to give the couples some time alone for their mid-battle reunion.

"About two weeks," Sora replied with a smile as he wrapped his arm around his fiance's waist. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," she whispered. "When I heard from Vanitas about the Infinity Stones, I was afraid that all that energy would kill you."

"Come on, Kairi," he answered teasingly. "After being submerged within the collective energy of Kingdom Hearts itself, did you really think one cosmically powered space cube would be enough to destroy me?"

"Well you know how we both get when it comes to each other's safety," Kairi retorted with a smirk. "So how was Earth? What's the biggest piece of the original world like?" This prompted him to launch into an animated discussion of his time on Earth and his experiences with the Avengers. In turn, Kairi shared her stories of what she'd been up to on her quest to track him down. As they talked, explosions bloomed around them in the stars as the battle of Turo drew to a close. Between the reduction of Maleficent's fleet, her attack on the Unchained, and the aid of Iron Man, Captain Amelia, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, combined with their own sabotage, the Unchained and Hellfire Club battle fleets were completely obliterated.

As expected, Maleficent and her inner circle escaped unscathed, with the only Hellfire Club casualties being Heartless swarms and Lorwardian ship crews. Rose was able to confirm, on the other hand, that all of the Unchained present aboard the Legion's warships had been killed (or at the very least forced to reincarnate). Apparently the death of an Unchained released large amounts of energy because of how long they were alive that fellow Unchained could pick up on. How wasn't important. What was important, though, was that they had struck crucial blows against both factions today. Maybe now they could finally bring them all down for good.

* * *

#### Deep Space – U.W.S.  _Anguis_

#### October 17th, 2021

Praetor Stone was furious. This was supposed to be his defining moment. His hour of triumph. He was supposed to crush the Hellfire Club like the insects they were and take the Power Stone for the Unchained Legion. The overwhelming success of his mission was supposed to catapult him to greater standing within the High Council, enough for him to usurp Gonzales' role as head of the war fleet and Gao's research and development wing all at once. Now instead, he could only watch in abject horror as two dozen Unchained war ships erupted in explosions of fire and steel around him. The wounding of his pride had to be put on hold when the central console of the bridge lit up to indicate an incoming transmission. His blood ran cold when he examined the source of the call and realized that it was coming directly from the Novus Imperator herself.

"STONE!" Skuld roared as a small hologram image of the raven haired leader of the Unchained Legion appeared over the  _Anguis_ ' command console. So great was her anger that she didn't even bother with formality and titles over the official channels. "How could you be so stupid as to take the witch's bait?"

"Forgive me, Imperator," he replied frantically as he attempted to salvage any victory from this mess to make up for their brutal losses today. "I only sought to acquire the Infinity Stone and crush the Hellfire Club in a single swoop. I…"

"Is your arrogance so great that it blinds you to the facts?" Skuld interrupted. "While we possess the numerical advantage when it comes to troops, Maleficent's armada outnumber us five to one. Now you've gone and squandered a fifth of the fleet for your own vanity projects. Maybe you can learn some humility in your next life." The Imperator's communication channel abruptly cut off, leaving Stone mere seconds to contemplate the implications of the Imperator's angry warning before the bridge of the  _Anguis_ was engulfed in cannon fire from the R.L.S.  _Legacy_ as it passed by.

* * *

#### Titan's Sanctuary – Maleficent's Throne

#### October 17th, 2021

Stone's wounded pride was nothing compared to how livid Maleficent was right now. Once again, Sora and his friends had forced her to retreat from her goals. And if that wasn't enough, they had the nerve to put her daughter in danger. While the more rational part of her mind attempted to remind her that they didn't know Lily existed before they chose to attack the Titan's Sanctuary, but her fear for her daughter's safety was overriding her logic now. Ever since Lily had contact her on the private com-link she'd given her daughter for emergencies saying that Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy had attacked Sanctuary, Maleficent had been in a panicked frenzy, and raced home with half the Hellfire Club's armada in tow.

Once she had returned home and made certain of Lily's safety, Maleficent's calm fury erupted into a bubbling volcano of rage. Changes would need to be made now. The new facility they'd been building in Earth's solar system was now their last remaining stationary base. The Lorwardian battle cruisers that survived the battle of Turo would have to be used sparingly. Security for their new base would need to be tripled to avoid another incident like this one. Oh, how the Mistress of All Evil hated being forced into hiding like a turtle retreating into its shell.

But first, Maleficent would need to determine the source of the information leak. The entire Hellfire Club knew the coordinates of the Titan's Sanctuary, but there were only a few who she knew would have any motive for selling their secrets to the enemy. Her inner circle were all above suspicion, so that left Yzma, Hamsterviel, Malekith, Demona, and Seymour as the only suspects. Hamsterviel and Yzma were as much conquerors as she was and would never dream of surrendering information to the enemy like that. Demona hated humanity too much to ever associate with the Coalition.

Malekith might do it, but he preferred brute force over subtlety and manipulation. That left Seymour. The more she thought about it, the more Maleficent realized that it would be perfectly in character for the nihilistic former priest to play both sides to achieve his ideal future through killing every living thing in the universe. He was even worse than Thanos if the green-skinned fairy was being honest with herself. The Mad Titan at least, had a general goal, slaughtering innocent lives as a twisted sacrifice to his beloved Death. Seymour just gave up on life and wanted to end his misery while taking the rest of reality with him. Yes, she could definitely see him leaking information to the enemy to cause as much chaos and death as he could.

* * *

#### The Lanes Between – U.W.S.  _Ava_

#### October 17th, 2021

"Our spies have confirmed it," High Praetor Aurilam reported as he marched into Skuld's office aboard the  _Ava_ with a manila envelope in one hand. "The ships Stone brought with him to Turo have all been destroyed. The Praetor and his men were killed along with them."

"While the loss of so many of our Chaste division is a serious blow in our fight against The Hand," Skuld observed. "The benefits more than make up for the reduction of our troops." As she finished her sentence, the metallic sphere held in the air above her desk clicked open to reveal the familiar purple glow of an Infinity Stone. Warden Lerena smirked in triumph as she recalled her daring but easy heist on the vaults on Turo's surface as the battle raged on in space above the Federation capital.

"Although I don't see why we had to leak our intelligence to those Coalition heathens," the Legion's assassin remarked dryly. "We shouldn't let those infidels solve our problems for us."

"We shouldn't," Skuld commented as she sealed the containment orb once more. "But after eight thousand years, the High Council has become too entangled in politics for us to achieve The Endgame effectively. Gao. Stone. Gonazles. They're all just spokes on a wheel. First this one's on top, then that one's on top, and on and on it spins, dragging the Unchained war machine down into the ground. We cannot stop the wheel by adding to the internal politics and power plays. Only by allowing our enemies to destroy each other can we truly, finally break the wheel." The Unchained formerly known as Larxene and Marluxia couldn't help but applaud at Skuld's response.

"Well said, Skuld," Aurilam commented. "You always know how to inspire the troops. We may have to deal with reduced ranks, but with the acquisition of the Power Stone, we're half way to reuniting the scattered pieces of the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master. Four of the Infinity Stones are finally within our grasp. Stone, Gao, and the others all want to simply brute force their way through all our obstacles. They've become so wrapped up in their incarnations that they've forgotten what brute force got us back during the Keyblade War. We three and = understand how to play the long game. To take what we have and manipulate the board so that we can achieve the greatest results with the fewest resources."

After taking a few more minutes to discuss Praetor Long's acquisition of the Uchrono Hourglass, Aurilam and Lerena left to prepare for the next stage of the plan. They only had two more stones to go, then they needed to search for the Infinity Gauntlet itself. The one rumored to reside in Odin's vault on Asgard they knew was little more than a prop to discourage the likes of Thanos from hunting the real one. Acquiring all three artifacts would take a great deal of skill and patience. Now that the extraneous elements had been excised from the Legion, they could pick up the pace. Once she was alone in her office, Skuld turned to face the stars streaming by outside the viewport, alone with her doubts once more.

 _Will it really be worth it in the end?_ She wondered to herself as she watched the universe glide silently by around her.  _How can the promise of a united world truly justify everything that we've done?_ There were times like this, when she was alone with her thoughts, that she began to question whether the end really justified the means. If maybe there were better ways to achieve Lady Ava's vision of a peaceful, united world. But as they got closer and closer to the end, she began to wonder if it was not too late to change things, or if they had already gone too far to turn back now.  _No,_ she reminder herself.  _The Unchained Legion has done too much to let all our hard work, let Ephemer's sacrifice go to waste._ But each time she repeated the affirmation, her resolve only wavered more.


	10. Radiant Garden

**Radiant Garden – Spaceport**

**October 26th, 2021**

"Welcome to Radiant Garden," Sora and Kairi remarked with overdramatic bows as the Avengers disembarked from the R.L.S. Legacy into Radiant Garden's spaceport. After the battle against the Unchained Legion and the Hellfire Club drew to a close, Aqua arrived with a few ships from the Coalition Fleet to help with cleaning up and repairs. During their mercy mission to Turo, the blue-haired Keyblade Master managed to secure a treaty between the Daybreak Coalition and the Galactic Federation, and had remained behind on Turo with her family, preparing to send a delegation to Earth.

After a week of helping with the cleanup of the Battle of Turo, Kairi and Sora were eager to head home, and the five citizens of the Coalition extended an invitation to the rest of their travelling companions for a chance to tour the Daybreak Coalition before returning to Earth. The acceptance of their offer was unanimous, for a variety of reasons. Thor hoped to establish trade and military agreements between Asgard and the Coalition, while Fury hoped to come to a similar agreement in regards to intelligence on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony and Bruce wanted to examine the science and technology that the Coalition had developed (both were fascinated by everything from Gummi Ships to combat magic), while Hawkeye was motivated by pure curiosity and an overwhelming desire to play tourist.

Jake, Rose, and Natasha would have preferred to return to Earth and increase their defenses to guard themselves against the wrath of the Unchained Legion. But all three of them knew that was never going to happen. Between their sense of justice and the knowledge that the Legion would not stop coming after them until they were either dead or back under their thumb, they had no choice but to stand with the rest of the universe and fight back. And since the Coalition was already doing that anyway, sticking with Sora and the others was their best course of actions. Not to mention the fact that Rose and Natasha's intimate knowledge of the Legion's inner workings would provide the Coalition military with valuable information on how to cripple the enemy.

Tony and Bruce immediately began a rapid-fire string of questions about the flight schematics of the Gummi Ships before Sora put up a hand to stop them and promised to put them in touch with local Gummi engineer Cid Highwind. Steve insisted on informing the Coalition government of their presence and offering their services as long as they were there. It may have been overly formal of him, but the Captain's rationale had been that while they were guests in a foreign nation, they should be courteous and respectful towards the local government. Since everyone had their own plans for what they wanted to do, Kairi called ahead and had some of the Royal Guard escort the various guests to where they wanted to go.

As predicted, Iron Man and Dr. Banner went to discuss Gummi blocks and spaceship engineering with Cid (the three men got along like a house on fire, which was more than a little disconcerting for everyone who knew them). Steve and Thor were soon granted an audience with Ansem the Wise, while Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Longs went to the local offices of Coalition Intelligence. While everyone had gone off to do their own thing, they all promised to meet up in the Marketplace for lunch. That left the Princess of Radiant Garden and her fiancé with a few hours of time to themselves. And after nearly a month without seeing each other, they were more than ready to make up for lost time.

* * *

**The Realm of Darkness – D.E.S.** **_Nathalis_ **

**October 26th, 2021**

 

 **"** **We have confirmed it,"** Algrim reported to his king aboard the bridge of the Dark Elf flagship as it glided through the eternally dark skies of the Realm of Darkness.  **"What we seek is there."** They had finally done it. After tens of thousands of years of failure, the Dark Elf race had finally managed to enter the Realm of Darkness. Now they were here to take back what was rightfully theirs. The liquid gem of Reality that King Bor had selfishly hidden from them in order to deny Malekith his well-deserved revenge. The Aethir. For so long, Malekith had dreamed of the day he would exact revenge upon the nine realms for their attempted genocide against his people thousands of years ago, and now that it was finally within his grasp, he had to fight hard to contain his excitement.

 **"** **Set course for the Lower Zone, then,"** The Dark Elf king ordered as he leaned back in his command chair, basking in the euphoria of a long-deserved victory.  **"Bring me the Aethir, Algrim. Bring our people the key to vengeance against Asgard for their crimes against our race."** As the rocky structures of the dark realm rocketed past below his feet, Malekith could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of triumph. After thousands of years, he found finally have what he needed to avenge his family. His wife and son would not have died in vain. The only question now that he had achieved his goal was what to do now. It would be another four thousand years at least before the next convergence, meaning that he would have to use the Aethir to destroy all nine realms at once. That left only Maleficent.

From the moment Malekith allied his people with the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" Malekith knew that their alliance was one of convenience. Maleficent's cabal was a means to an end for the Dark Elf king, and now that she had served her purpose, it was time to dispose of her. The only question now was how. He knew that she was anticipating a coup by the Dark Elves and prepared accordingly, and he had likewise prepared his people for Maleficent's attempt to cut them loose. So a straight up coup de tat among the ranks of the Hellfire Club would be neither possible nor practical.

Subterfuge and deception wasn't going to be an option either. The witch had learned from her experiences with Xehanort and refused to be used as a pawn by anyone. She was too intelligent to fall for any trickery or manipulation. When the  _Nathalis_ began to carve its way through the ash-covered stone pathways of the hellish landscape as the warship came in for a landing, the answer came to him in a sudden rush. She already distrusted him, and would naturally treat anything he said with suspicion. If he could disguise his machinations by playing on her suspicion and mistrust, he could distract Maleficent long enough to destroy the Hellfire Club in one swoop.

Satisfied with his plan, Malekith stood up from his command chair and marched to the elevator that would take him down to where they had found the relic he sought. As he marched across the ashes that blanketed the ground, he caught sight of a familiar stone pillar sitting a few dozen yards away, the intricate burn marks of the Bifrost gate burned into the landscape around it. While Malekith's first impulse would have been to absorb the Aethir right here and now, he reminded himself that doing so would tip his hand and provoke Maleficent to open conflict with the Dark Elves. No. In order to play his cards right, he had to keep the Aethir contained for now and wait until just the right moment to play his hand. But he could deal with his impatience. He had waited over five thousand years for his revenge. He could wait a little longer.

* * *

**The Lanes Between – Sol System**

**October 26th, 2021**

"Are we sure he can be trusted, M'Lady?" Diablo asked once Malekith had strode out of the room. He and Hades had stood silently by on either side of Maleficent's makeshift throne in the heart of their new base as construction went on around them. The Dark Elf king had deliberate research had pointed to the theory that the Soul Stone, one of the only Infinity Stones that the Unchained Legion had not managed to get their hands on, had been hidden away inside Jafar's serpent staff all along. Maleficent didn't really believe that, but it did give her an idea for how to dispose of Malekith.

"Of course not," Maleficent answered as she stood from her throne and made her way down from the dais. Hades walked up beside her and slipped his wife's fingers around his own. "But this does present us with an opportunity to cull the treacherous elements of Malekith's inner circle. We'll let Malekith take his ships to Agrabah, tell him that he can bring us the Soul Stone as atonement for his failure to find it the first time. But before they leave, Loki will sabotage their black hole grenades to destroy their ships before they return to Agrabah. While they're busy going on their wild goose chase, we'll be sending a team to retrieve the Aethir. Once we've removed Malekith from the equation, we can retrieve the Soul stone for ourselves from its real hiding place."

"An excellent plan, babe," Hades commented as he leaned in and gave his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll go let the green guy know. The only question that remains now is what to do about Demona."

"Oh I have something in mind for her," the Queen of the Underworld replied with a smirk. "She can only die if Macbeth kills her, but that doesn't mean we cannot imprison her in a sleeping curse as I did with Aurora."

"Brilliant as always, M'Lady," Diablo observed. "And with Seymour's execution over and done with, we can take back the Infinity Stones from the Unchained Legion. Once we do, all of reality will be yours for the taking, and all who stop you will burn in the fires of their own making." The three members of the Hellfire Club's inner circle turned to more mundane topics like Lily's desire to learn how to play the pipe organ, making sure that their secret conversations never reached Malekith's ears. But they failed to notice a shimmer of green as the disgraced prince of Asgard released his cloaking spell and teleported away to fill his brother in on everything he'd just heard.


	11. Moment's Reprieve

#### Agarabah – D.E.S.  _Nathalis_

#### November 4th, 2021

 **"** **What a pitiful world,"** Malekith observed as the  _Nathalis_ began its descent into Agrabah's atmosphere.  **"I might not have even considered it worth the effort to destroy it if we did not have to sell our deception to Maleficent."** With catlike poise, he leaned against the command console of the bridge and pressed a button signaling the pilots of the drop ships to take off. They would eliminate the world's defenses and keep the Coalition armies from interfering with his mission. Once the Aethir had turned this world to dust, they would return to the nine realms and claim the Soul Stone themselves.

 **"** **Forgive me for asking, my king,"** Algrim began.  **"But if the Soul Stone is not found here, then where is it?"** Malekith took a deep, slow breath as he considered how to answer. While he did not doubt his second-in-command's loyalty, he did not want to risk a leak. After Seymour's execution, he was wary of the possibility that Demona would sell him out to Maleficent to save her own skin. He had ordered her to remain behind at the under construction base, but Dark Corridors enabled one to eavesdrop without physically being in the room.

 **"** **The last place Maleficent expects it to be,"** Malekith answered.  **"Guarded by a warrior whose devotion to his post is unfailing."** But before the conversation could continue one of the drop ships collapsed in on itself with the distinctive hallmarks of the Dark Elves' black hole grenades.  _So she's finally decided to take the gloves off, has she?_ He thought to himself as he relayed the order to the troops heading for the ground to search the dropships for any sign of hidden bombs. But by the time he gave the order, half a dozen more dropships had already been destroyed.

A loud beeping noise alerted Malekith to the activation of the warship's proximity sensors. A cursory glance at the console revealed that a fleet of Coalition Gummi Ships were heading for the  _Nathalis_ on an intercept course. Under any other circumstances, Malekith would have ordered his people to press the attack and destroy this world. But not today. Today, the destruction of the world was secondary to their goal of deceiving Maleficent as to the Soul Stone's location. Since that had clearly failed, attacking Agrabah was no longer necessary. And with the battle to come, Malekith would need every Dark Elf he had to bring the Mistress of All Evil down.

 **"** **All pilots, fall back!"** the elven king commanded.  **"Maleficent has declared war against our people, so we shall leave this world to be targeted by the Unchained. If it's a fight that witch wants, it's a fight she'll get."** Cannon fire from the  _Nathalis_ shrieked past the bridge's large central view port towards the Coalition fleet. Malekith was not worried about destroying the Gummi armada. He was more concerned with providing cover fire for the drop ships as they returned to their docking bays. As soon as all ships were docked, Malekith ordered the ship's pilots to cloak them and activate the warp drive.

Once they had escaped from Agrabah, the Dark Elf king collapsed into his chair with a stunned slump. Their tenuous alliance with the Hellfire Club had been broken. And the black hole grenades aboard his drop ships made Maleficent's intentions very clear. Once again, the Dark Elves were fighting a war for their very survival. But then, Malekith figured, they had never stopped fighting it in the first place. Ever since Bor began his genocide against them over five millennia ago, the Dark Elves had been fighting. They had devoted everything they had, everything that they were, towards one singular goal. To assert to all sentient life in the universe that they had a right to exist.

Their brief period of gathering allies for Maleficent had been little more than a lull in the action, and now that Maleficent had declared her intentions to remove Malekith and his people from existence, the fighting had begun again in earnest. Steeling his resolve, Malekith reached over and pressed a button on his forearm gauntlet that sent out a coded message. Hundreds of thousands of light years away, a red-haired, blue-skinned Gargoyle received the signal and smiled. Without another word, Demona stalked off through the warrens of the Hellfire Club's last remaining base. It was time to get to work.

* * *

#### New York City – United Nations Headquarters

#### November 6th, 2021

"Wow," Jake Long commented as Rose's fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents finished catching them up on everything that they had missed while they were gone. "I did not see that coming. I figured that with how prevalent S.H.I.E.L.D. was the magical world would have been exposed sooner or later. I just never expected we wouldn't be there to see it." A lot had happened while they were away from Earth. Beyond the magical world being forced out of hiding by HYDRA, which was earth shaking enough on its own, the S.A.C.K. had stepped out of the shadows as well, educating the public on the history of the Keyblade War. The remnants of HYDRA had been wiped out for good. The most shocking things to the Longs, however, were the resurrection of the Huntsclan and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s discovery of the Unchained Legion.

"I'm sorry I never told the team about it on my own," Rose told Daisy as they sat in a small break room in the United Nations Headquarters while Aqua's delegation met with the General Assembly. The U.N.'s awareness of the Coalition had forced Vanitas to act as an ad hoc ambassador, but the diplomatic emissaries that came with Aqua were able to come up with a more formal treaty to prepare for integration with Earth's existing geopolitical structure in preparation for the day that the shattered fragments of the world merged back together. Sora was off taking his fiancé on a tour of the city, while the Avengers had all returned home to be with their friends and loved ones following a briefing with the U.N. security council where they described what had happened during their sojourn to space.

"Don't sweat it," Daisy "Skye" Johnson replied. "We all totally understand. It's not like you could have just walked into the office and said "I'm an immortal Keyblade Master who defected from a secret army of immortals trying to shape the world towards a narrow view of perfection." Rose chuckled at the humor, but the tension did not entirely ebb away.

"It's not just that, Skye," Rose went on. "I didn't want everyone to see me as this ancient monster who did terrible things in the name of "perfection"." Black Widow had left S.H.I.E.L.D. a whole packet of files and documents on the past, present, and future of the Unchained Legion, but Rose didn't exactly want to bring up the Atilan Sieges in front of an actual Inhuman.

"Look, Rose," Daisy interrupted. "We've been friends for years now, and you being a reformed immortal cultist who brought down the Inhuman Empire isn't going to change that. Romanov left a whole debriefing packet that explained everything about the Keyblade War and the roles you both played in it. Honestly, from what I know of Inhuman history, the Unchained probably did the world a favor. I mean, sure Emperor Boltagon wanted to protect his people, but he was willing to team up with the people trying to tear the world down. Now, the Inhuman population is smaller and we aren't ruling any empires, but having the Avengers and magic around has helped the world accept us when the elders of Lai Shi finally decided to come out of hiding. I think things turned out all right in the long run. Sure, I'm pissed that Inhumans aren't as common as they used to be, but I'm not mad at you."

The conversation turned towards more cheerful topics as the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the dragon talked about everything from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s response to the existence of the supernatural community to their plans to combat the Hellfire Club and the Unchained Legion. As the meetings upstairs drew to a close, more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents came in and threw their hats into the conversational ring. For a moment, their concerns about the rest of the world faded away, and instead of a group of warriors preparing for the next battle, they were just a bunch of friends catching up over coffee.

* * *

#### The Lanes Between – U.W.S.  _Ava_

#### November 6th, 2021

"Have all the preparations been made?" Skuld asked as she stood at her favorite spot in her command chamber aboard the  _Ava_. The last two weeks had been marked by frantic production and careful maneuvering of the Unchained Legion's remaining forces. It wasn't as much as she would have wanted for the Endgame, but it would have to be enough. With Gao's research division obliterated, Stick leading the Chaste in Stone's absence, and Gonzalles' arrest by S.H.I.E.L.D., all that remained of the Unchained forces were four fifths of the Legion's fleet and roughly five thousand Keyblade Masters. But thanks to their efforts to cull the rebellious elements of the Legion, those who remained were personally loyal to the Novus Imperator alone.

"Everything is in position, Imperator," Aurilam reported. "Strike Team Omega is prepared to strike at the Vaults of Asgard the instant the Hellfire Club makes its move, Strike Team Beta is in position to storm the island where we've confirmed the real Gauntlet is being kept, and Strike Team Alpha is prepared to steal the Hellfire Club's Infinity Stones on your command."

"We've finally done it," Skuld breathed in exhileration."It's taken eight thousand years and careful manipulation and planning but we're finally ready to execute the Endgame. We can finally put the world back on the right path." But despite the elation in her voice, the raven haired Keyblade wielder could not bring herself to feel as happy as she sounded. Despite eight millennia of compounded cynicism and general paranoia, she couldn't simply ignore the fact that millions of people would either be executed or used as slave labor in order to fulfill the Legion's idea of a perfect future.

Though she gave no indication of her continued doubts about the righteousness of their cause, Aurilam and Lerena exchanged glances. They knew that the Novus Imperator's resolve was weakening, and the idea that Skuld would allow eight thousand twenty-three years of planning and preparation to go to waste over misplaced sentimentality made their blood boil. That could not be allowed to happen. While the they trusted her to use the Infinity Gauntlet to accelerate the restoration of Earth, afterwards was where they were preparing for the worst. If she didn't have the nerve to give the order to purge the corrupt and decadent from the world, then Lerena would be forced to execute her and take command of the Legion herself.

The three of them had been close friends for thousands of years, and Lerena didn't want to force her to reincarnate, but the Endgame needed to be accomplished by any means necessary. The two former Organization members' contingency planning was cut off when Skuld asked them a question about their other plan that Aurilam had been working on for over a decade.

"Are you certain that we have to resort to Dr. Faustus' methods for reeducating him?" Skuld asked. "I would rather not have to rely on methods developed by Maleficent's lackeys."

"I'm afraid so, Imperator," he replied with false regret. He'd been looking forward to having that particular warrior under their thumb for years now, and was not about to let anything stop him this time. "Our previous attempt to bring the Keyblade Master to our side failed because of The Witch's attachment to him. I detest using our enemy's methods as much as your do, but we cannot allow his particular blade to be used against us. Having him under our control is a far better alternative than keeping him prisoner."

Skuld sighed. It appeared that now she finally had no other option than to proceed with the Endgame. She had hoped to have beaten her doubts into submission by now, but with each passing day, her unease grew greater and greater. Now she was faced with one of the most sadistic choices imaginable. To cleanse the world of the impure to achieve a brighter future at the cost of millions of people who, despite their impurity, had either done nothing wrong or did what they did out of love or desperation. Or to allow all those people to live, knowing that the world would eventually tear itself to shreds over petty concerns such as bathroom access. And despite her doubts, Skuld couldn't tell if she was even qualified to make that decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonzels' arrest, and the revival of the Huntsclan are elements that will be explained in the next side fic in the series, Cloak and Dagger


	12. The Realm Eternal

#### Earth – S.A.C.K. Headquarters

#### November 15th, 221

"So the Hellfire Club's new base is on the moon," Coulson summarized as Kairi informed him of the latest report from Loki. "Bit of a cliché, isn't it?" While most of the core group of S.H.I.E.L.D. and C.I.N. Agents were either busy guarding the ongoing negotiations between the Coalition and Earth or catching up with loved ones (Cloud's wife was part of the delegation after all), the small group gathered in this room were focused on a much more serious long term goal. Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, Sora, Kairi, Vanitas, the Rogers, and the Longs had assembled to prepare for their next strike against the Hellfire Club.

Loki's latest intelligence package had confirmed that Maleficent's war with the Unchained Legion had taken a heavy toll on the ranks of her followers. With Malekith's defection, all of the Hellfire Club operatives still loyal to Maleficent were hunkered down in their last remaining base on the far side of Earth's moon. Thor had gone back to Asgard to pass along the information to his father, since with the Dark Elves' resurgence, Odin had formally declared war on Malekith, and had tasked his son with putting together an elite Asgardian strike team to hunt the Dark Elves down and destroy them.

In the meantime, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, the S.A.C.K., and the handful of Coaltion military and intelligence officers stationed on Earth were teaming up to wipe out Maleficent's loyalist faction in a single strike. Ideas were brought up and debated in a constant loop. The Coalition had been able to reverse engineer the Hellfire Club's Dark Corridor nullification technology developed by Dr. Hamsterviel before the battle of Cable Town at the end of the Xehanort War, and Aqua had brought some along with her delegation. But simply hurling missiles at the facility would do more harm than good, as the ground troops would be too busy making sure the roof didn't collapse on them to effectively hunt the surviving agents.

"I've got an idea," Sora suggested after a few minutes of arguing and debating. "We modify the DCNs so that instead of completely blocking the bad guys' attempts to escape with Corridors of Darkness, their Corridors will all end up in the brig of the OHC. That'll save us the effort of having to track down everyone we miss since everyone who tries to escape will only get themselves captured. Those like Iron Man and the Hulk who are better suited for ranged combat will guard the entrances and apprehend every Club member who tries to escape, while those whose skillset leans more towards close quarters combat will lead the teams inside to capture Maleficent and end her reign of terror."

The Keyblade Master's idea was met with near universal agreement, and the meeting was then spent preparing the logistics of the upcoming attack. Battle planning wasn't quite as simple as figuring out a battle plan, despite what some people may think. Once you had a plan of attack, you had to assess which fighters would be ideal for each aspect of the mission and prepare assignments accordingly. Once the squad rosters had been assigned, a strategist needed to determine each squad member's role in relation to both their squad mates and the mission itself. Once the meeting was concluded, the S.A.C.K., S.H.I.E.L.D., and C.I.N. agents along with the dragon and the Keyblade Masters went to brief their respective factions on their role in the coming battle.

* * *

#### The Realm Eternal – Alleyway

#### November 15th, 2021

Loki carefully checked his surroundings as he teleported into narrow alley just off the street leading to the rainbow bridge. While his family had reconciled with him, he was still supposed to be treated as an escaped criminal, and couldn't afford to be spotted now. While most of the time, when teleporting, Loki left a duplicate of himself behind to give the illusion that he was there so that Maleficent wouldn't figure out that he was selling her secrets to the Coalition, tonight was another matter. With the Hellfire Club now fractured by the failed extermination of Malekith and his conspirators, both factions were scrambling for leverage over the other. That meant that Asgard would be their next target.

Few knew the true power of the Bifrost's guardian, or where it came from. The number of people who knew that Heimdall's powers were derived from the Soul Stone embedded in the armor he wore as his badge of office numbered in the double digits. And that was without considering the possibility that everyone in the Unchained Legion knew. For thousands of years, the obscurity of the Infinity Stone's location had kept it safe from all who would attempt to claim it. But now, every faction that wanted it would soon be converging on Asgard like bees homing in on a flower. It was only a matter of time before one of them came knocking, and Loki was determined to keep the stone out of all their hands, cover be damned.

"Your concern for my safety is appreciated, my prince," Heimdall remarked as Loki strode silently into the Bifrost gate. Loki didn't bother with his usual banter or quips, or to sarcastically question how the gatekeeper knew he was there and what he wished to speak of. He already knew the answer. Heimdall laughed. "But I have survived ever attack on Asgard," the warrior went on. "And I intend to survive this one as well."

"And what if they manage to steal the Stone?" Loki retorted. "To rob you of your ability to see beyond the gates of Asgard? What then?"

"I am sure my king can find other uses for a loyal soldier such as I," Heimdall answered calmly, as if the idea of losing his legendary Sight did not faze him in the slightest. "To be completely honest, Loki, after thousands of years of monotonous vigil, it would actually be a relief to be reassigned from my post. But I would still consider it dishonorable to say so aloud to anyone else. I only tell you because I can at least trust your discretion." Loki nodded in understanding and offered the gatekeeper one last warning to be careful before teleporting himself to the castle.

As he strode through the torch-lit corridors of Asgard's royal palace, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Now that he had finally severed his ties with Maleficent, he could stop pretending he hadn't reconciled with his family. He could greet his brother now with warmth and friendship instead of feigning hatred and scorn. With catlike agility, he slipped through the winding corridors of the castle as he dodged the Einherjar patrols while he made his way towards the throne room. He walked into the massive chamber to find his entire family, along with Sif and the Warriors Three, engaged in intense conversation. After a few minutes, in which Loki was able to determine that his loyalty to his family was the topic of conversation, his brother took notice of him from across the room.

"Brother!" Thor called out warmly, and Loki smiled to himself despite his usually sarcastic attitude as he peeled himself away from the shadows along the wall and made his way towards the throne. Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandrall snapped to attention and had their hands on their weapons. Whether it was because of their fears he'd betrayed them once more or caution as to whether he was alone and able to act freely, he could not tell. Sif was more relaxed around him, but kept her hand near her sword just in case. Only Thor and his parents appeared completely relaxed. Even without Odin's foresight, Frigga's faith in him, and Thor's trust, after all those therapy sessions his family members had learned to read him like a book over the last nine years, and they knew that he was here as himself, and not as part of a Hellfire Club invasion force.

"Mother, father," he greeted warmly. "I've come home bearing both good news and bad. Which would you prefer to hear first." Queen Frigga's face quickly slipped into a look of concern with practiced ease. Clearly his mother could ascertain the severity of his news.

"From your tone, I should think we should hear the good tidings first," she replied, speaking for everyone in the room. "That way we can have something to shore ourselves up against the bad news." With a nod Loki continued.

"The good news is I've officially severed all ties with Maleficent's cabal and am now a relatively free man," Loki explained. Before Thor could run up and hug him, he put up a hand to stop him. "I can still go back to my cell if the public demands it once this is all over," he continued. "But after all my spying and espionage over the past two months, I feel I've earned a vacation. More good news, the Hellfire Club's infrastructure has been broken in two. Maleficent's central command remains loyal to her, but their troop numbers are greatly reduced with Malekith's rebellion."

"The bad news, however, is very dire indeed. Both factions of the Hellfire Club are aware of the hiding place of the Soul Stone, and are on their way now to claim it. The Unchained Legion may be on their way as well. I've already warned Heimdall not to let his guard down even for a moment, and came straight here. An attack on Asgard is beyond possible, it  _will_ happen. Neither Maleficent, Malekith, nor whoever's in charge of the Legion will stop until they've assembled the Infinity Gauntlet in its entirety." For a moment, the throne room was silent as the weight of Loki's proclamation hit them like spears in the gut. Then their pulses quickened with dawning horror as alarm bells began to ring throughout the city.

"Your Majesty!" One of the Einherjar called out as they raced into the room. "A ship matching the description of a Dark Elf warship has entered Asgardian airspace. Along with a flying Midgardian sailing vessel that is engaging the Dark Elves in combat. Both are sending landing craft toward the city."

* * *

#### The Realm Eternal – Bifrost Gate

#### November 15th, 2021

Although the people of Asgard generally believed that their gatekeeper could see everything beyond Asgard's borders, Heimdall would be the first to admit that his power had limits. While the power of the Soul Stone, passed down from one gatekeeper to another as a badge of office, was truly infinite, there were a multitude of ways things could be hidden from its sights. Which was why when he heard a engine cutting through Asgard's skies towards the palace despite not actually seeing any ships airborne, he knew that the enemy had arrived. Whirling on his feet, he raced out of the Bifrost gate and charged up the bridge's long metal suspension cables.

Running up the cables, he pulled out a dagger as he reached the top and leapt towards the sound of the unknown engines. His dagger struck home, burying itself in the hull of an invisible ship, which quickly de-cloaked to reveal the knife-like shape of a Dark Elfe spacecraft.  _So it would seem Malekith is the first to arrive, then,_ he mused to himself as he slid down the ship's wing and tossed his dagger into the engine's exhaust port. The ship immediately took a nosedive towards the rainbow bridge leading to Asgard, where it promptly exploded. As he recovered his breath from the sudden rush of adrenaline, he turned around with a look of dawning horror on his face to find Malekith's flagship rising above the waves of Asgard's far edge.

Heimdall could only stand horrorstruck as a swarm of smaller Dark Elf craft launched from the command ship and flew across the ocean towards Asgard. As the Dark Elf ships weaved their way through the spires and towers of the golden city, defensive laser turrets opened fire on the invaders. But the elves were too quick even for Asgardian reflexes, cutting down the turrets with the bladed wings of their ships. Flying patrol boats took to the skies to take the battle to the enemy as alarm bells began to toll across the capital. The patrol boats were able to take out a few of the Dark Elf ships, but were quickly taken out in retaliation within seconds.

Back at the Bifrost Gate, Heimdall thrust his sword into its usual slot in the center of the gate. While normally, this would activate the Bifrost, this time, he used to trigger the palace's force fields. But while the force field was building up towards its peak, Einherjar standing guard outside the actual shield generator within the palace walls were quickly ambushed and killed by a squad of Lorwardians under the command of Nebula. The Hellfire Club strike team entered the room and destroyed the generator, bringing down the force field. While they hadn't intended to aid Malekith, only keep the forces of Asgard distracted, the Dark Elves took full advantage of the opportunity to send a single landing craft careening through the castle's great hall, destroying columns as the ship spinned.

While Odin lead his warriors to engage the Dark Elf forces, Thor, Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three lead another squad to repel Maleficent's loyalists. Back on the Bifrost, Heimdall could only watch and do what he could to slow the enemy by bringing down any ship that flew close enough to the Bifrost for him to repeat his dagger trick. As he finished brining down another Dark Elf ship, he was struck from behind with a Firaga spell that sent him careening towards the edge of the bridge. As the mighty gatekeeper struggled to pull himself up from the ledge, a robed figure strode towards him from the direction of the gate. While he mentally cursed himself for allowing his guard to drop, the woman approached him and leaned down, revealing her green skin and horned head.

"Well what have we here?" Maleficent asked rhetorically with a menacing edge to her voice. "A gatekeeper who's done a rather pathetic job of guarding his kingdom." Heimdall refused to say anything. He knew from Loki's reports who Maleficent was. Instead, he did something normally uncharacteristic for him. He spat at the so-called "Mistress of All Evil" in disgust, showing her that he had no intention of cooperating with her. Maleficent only smirked in response.

"If that's the way you want it," she replied. "I'll just take the Infinity Stone and be on my way." With a wave of her hand, she cast a Magnet spell just strong enough to remove the Soul Stone from Heimdall's armor without dragging the rest of him up from where he was struggling to pull himself up. While ordinarily, he would have climbed up by now without a problem, his disorientation from the Firaga spell and the fact that Maleficent was currently standing on his fingers made things rather difficult. Once she had finished sealing the stone inside a protective casing, she moved her foot, sending another wave of pain up his arm as the heel of her shoe dug into his hand. Then with one final push, she shoved his now-broken fingers off the bridge, sending the Asgardian gatekeeper tumbling down into the ocean below.

Back in the palace, Thor raced through the castle hallways toward the main hall, his friends hot on their heels. The Hellfire Club forces had been shocked by Loki's defection but had fled uncharacteristically quickly. Realizing that they had this infiltration team was a diversion while they went after Heimdall, Loki teleported out to the Bifrost gate, leaving Thor and the others to hurry back to the grand hall alone. From what they'd heard, Odin and his Einherjar had managed to keep the Dark Elves contained in the great hall, but casualties were growing higher by the minute. Thor raced into the throne room just in time to watch Malekith plunge his blade through Odin's heart.

Thor screamed in rage as he blasted the Dark Elf king with lightning. The Asgardian prince charged forward in a berserker fury as Dark Elves threw themselves at him to buy their leader time to escape. Sensing that his opportunity had been lost, Malekith and his army retreated through a Corridor of Darkness. Thor raced out to find the Dark Elf warship cloaking itself as it flew away from Asgard. Enraged at his father's demise, Thor hurled his hammer at the ship. But it was too late, and the hammer sailed harmlessly through the empty sky as the Dark Elves vanished into the unknown.

Meanwhile, Lerena spat in disgust as she stepped over the fresh corpse of the Einherjar guarding the vault beneath the palace. Her cream and violet armor – standard issue for the Vulpeus guild in the months leading up to the Keyblade War – glistened in the light of the torches lining the corridors. On either side of her, similarly armored Unchained, all wearing the same armor in the colors of their original guilds, held a defensive formation as they made their way toward the vault doors. Lerena grinned triumphantly as she unlocked the door and undid all of Odin's protective spells with a simple wave of her Keyblade.

The detachment of Unchained made their way into the vast chamber without resistance. The Einherjar were no match for an army of immortal Keyblade Masters. And even if the Destroyer was still intact, it would have fallen beneath the might of the Unchained Legion. Lerena, Aurilam, and Skuld were unconcerned with the outcome of the battle raging in the skies above them. While the Hellfire Club splintered over the Soul Stone up on Asgard's surface, they were after things that could not wait until later. While a squad of her best assassins guarded the door, Lerena examined the items all around her in the vault as she crushed the false gauntlet beneath her feet.

With a breath of relief, Stick approached the pedestal containing the Tablet of Life, which contained the formula for an elixir the Fallen Ones has used to enhance their own power prior to their banishment, and knocked it to the ground. The pedestal shattered into a thousand useless pieces with a satisfying crash. Another squad carefully lowered that damned Tuning Fork into a protective case with custom foam padding to keep it from banging around. If it made any noise whatsoever, eve just from accidentally striking the walls of its container, the barriers keeping the Fallen at bay would weaken enough to allow them to return.

Once all objects relating to the Fallen Ones had been removed from the vault and taken back to the  _Ava_ , Lerena and her team turned their attention to their real targets. With gentle care, Lerena moved the Warlock's Eye off its pedestal and moved it into a protective carrying case of its own. Once all the items they needed to take had been looted from the vault, Lerena pressed a button on her wrist comm signaling to Aurilam and Skuld that it was time. Seconds later, the High Praetor and the Novus Imperator appeared in the room as if melting out of the air. The two Unchained leaders walked briskly towards a single spot in the room while Stick walked over to another pedestal and picked up the Casket of Ancient Winters.

This was going to be a challenge. The Unchained Legion had made three attempts to extinguish the Eternal Flame over the last eight thousand years, but to no avail. This time was going to be different, however. With a nod from Skuld, Stick activated the Casket, and two dozen Unchained, their magic partially amplified by the Casket of Ancient Winters, cast Blizzaza at once. A thick layer of ice coated the floor of the vault as the Eternal Flame flickered and died, slowly choked by the intense drop in temperature. With that accursed Flame extinguished at last, the entire world began to shake.

The Unchained scrambled to their feet as the realm rocked and buckled with the force of an Earthquake. Up in the streets, Asgardians were panicking that it was a sign of Ragnarok, the fated "Twilight of the Gods", but the Legionnaires down in the now empty vault knew better. The eight realms under Odin's rule, barred from rejoining the rest of the world fragments, were finally beginning their long delayed journey home. As the shaking began to subside, Skuld and Aurilam opened a corridor of light right in the middle of the room. They quickly marched through the portal with Lerena and Stick at their heels. Once the remaining members of the High Council had returned to the  _Ava_ , the rest of the Legion filed out squad by squad, until nothing remained behind them but an empty vault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Heimdall's still alvie. His section was based on the Dark Elf attack on Asgard in Thor: The Dark World, since that was my favorite part of the movie. I'm keeping Frigga alive for future stories, and since Ragnarok hadn't come out yet when I wrote this, I had Odin be the one to bite the dust at hands of Malekith.


	13. One Small Step For Man

#### Shibuya Underground – WildCAT Café

#### November 15th, 2021

The popular café in Shibuya, Japan was as crowded as usual today. As if none of the people around him could sense the rising tension while the battles to come drew nearer with each passing day. The young man – who wasn't young at all but still preferred to look like it – smiled at the sight. It was a ray of hope in these dark times that despite all the conflict and change occurring from here to the Keyblade Graveyard, life still went on as close to normal as possible. But that couldn't go on forever. Between the exposure of the magical community, the Inhumans coming out of hiding, and the Daybreak Coalition revealing itself to the people of Earth, the World was on the brink of a new age. One way or another, the next few days would decide the planet's fate and shape the course of its future.

He was looked up at the sound of a bell ringing at the front of the coffee shop to find a woman in black who he hadn't expected to see within a million years. Glancing over at the counter to confirm that Sanae was busy helping another customer, he quickly waved the newcomer over. While Mr. H would respect his privacy, he didn't want to take any chances. Even through his altered form, the fallen angel could tell who he was, and despite his promise to stay out of his way, the man was known to barge into a conversation at the most inappropriate moments, and he didn't want Hanekoma to overhear anything other than general embarrassment.

 **"** **Agent Romanov,"** he greeted suspiciously. While he bore no ill will towards his old friend he had no idea if this visit was supposed to be as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, an Avenger, or as herself. While he had not encountered her in her current incarnation, he knew enough of her past to recognize the look in her eyes as she sat down across the table.

 **"** **It's been a while, hasn't it, J?"** she replied in fluent Japanese as she took her seat.  **"Don't worry about H overhearing. I cast a silence spell around our table. Noboby can hear us except each other."**

 **"** **As much as I've missed talking to you,"** the angelic being answered.  **"I have to ask. Why are you here?"** Natasha groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

 **"** **A thousand years later and you're just as cynical I am,"** she whispered regretfully.  **"Can't a girl bother to check and see how her ex is doing? We're about to go to war with the entire Legion but checking on the Game isn't exactly a priority right now, Kiryu."** Joshua sighed. She always called him by his last name whenever she was stressed. Even after a thousand years apart he still remembered that.

 **"** **Says the master assassin working for an international government organization who'd never leave me alone if the existence of the Reaper's Game was ever made public,"** he retorted teasingly. He'd missed this banter between the two of them. The two immortals had met when their paths crossed on assignment out near Israel. Natasha had been stationed at the local Unchained outpost at the time, and Joshua was travelling the world with his mentor training in preparation for his eventual role as the Composer for the Shibuya Underground. They had become fast friends from there, and they'd even dated a few times over the next few decades, before ultimately deciding that they were better as friends. Since then, they'd developed more of a brother and sister dynamic before Josh's promotion to Composer required him to stay in Japan full-time.

 **"** **Touche,"** the international spy conceded with a smirk as she sat down.  **"So how are you holding up? Anyone other immortal girls grab your eye lately? Or guys? I know a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who swing both ways. "**

 **"** **No, No,"** Josh replied with a chuckle.  **"You know me. Eternally single. Congratulations on you and the Winter Solider, by the way. I'm happy for you two."**

 **"** **Thank you,"** Natasha responded.  **"I'd have invited you to the wedding, but I don't think inviting the ex would have gone over well with the groom, even if it had been two thousand years since we broke up. Besides, if you'd showed up looking like you usually do, someone would have tried to press charges."** Joshua Kiryu laughed at the joke. As a being of the higher planes, he could take any form he chose, yet everyone was always surprised that he was most comfortable in the body of a teenager. And since he used that form almost exclusively, someone would have inevitably jumped to the wrong conclusions if he'd shown up at his ex girlfriend's wedding as a sixteen year old.

 **"** **How are things over at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"** he asked.  **"Or do even celestial beings need security clearance?"** Natasha laughed, loudly and genuinely. There were only two people on Earth who could make her laugh. She'd married one, and the other was sitting right in front of her.

 **"** **Unfortunately, yes,"** she answered, still giggling.  **"Although given the fact that the S.A.C.K.'s getting into the ring with us for the next few fights, I expect we'll be seeing each other around a lot more."** Joshua glanced around, nervous about meeting her gaze.

 **"** **Actually…"** the angel replied slowly.  **"I'm… going to sit this one out."**

 **"** **Like hell you are!"** Black Widow snapped.  **"Josh, your friends are about to go into battle against Dark Elves, the Hellfire Club and the full might of the Unchained Legion… I know Sakuraba helped you get out of your funk but are you still so jaded that you'd just abandon them to die like that!?"** The rebuke stung, although given his previous attitude she did have a point. He had spared Shibuya despite winning the bet all those years ago, but undoing millennia of jaded cynicism didn't happen overnight. He'd been better about being more optimistic about the future of humanity, but there still the occasional bad days where he was tempted to slip back into old habits. This was not one of those days, however.

 **"** **That's not it!"** he retorted.  **"Orders came from Up Top to let things play out."** Natasha nodded her head in understanding. Her knowledge of the Higher Planes was limited, but she did understand that when Josh or another angel were ordered not to do something, they were bound by their oat of service to obey, personal feelings on the matter be damned.

 **"** **Right,"** she finished as she put a supportive hand on her old friend's soulder.  **"Forgot that angels weren't allowed to interfere when free will was part of the equation. I'm sorry you can't help. I remember how you got the last time that happened."** The last time the angel had been barred from interfering, he'd been torn up inside having to watch an innocent man die and being unable to do anything about it. The despair and helplessness he'd felt then had been the catalyst for the path that drove him to trying to destroy Shibuya in the first place. He'd gotten into a boat load of trouble with his superiors after those three weeks, but thankfully his mistakes weren't enough to get him Fallen like Hanekoma.

 _But that'll never happen again,_ he promised to himself as he looked up into his old friend's eyes.  _I've come too far to slip back into the dark._ But there was something in Natasha's eyes that said she wouldn't be fighting either. And he had a pretty good idea as to why.

 **"** **Yeah,"** he replied.  **"If it weren't for that I'd be right there on the front lines with all of you. But something tells me you won't be out there either. I can feel it too. Everyone in the Higher Planes can. The Unchained are getting ready to make their play for the Gauntlet. And since you and the former Huntsgirl know more about them than anyone, you're hanging back from the conflict with the Hellfire Club to get everyone ready for when the Legion makes its move."**

 **"** **Spot on as usual,"** she answered with a solemn look on her face.  **"We're keeping a portion of S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.A.C.K.'s forces in reserve so we can start making preparations. Bucky's just disappointed I won't be flying out with him tomorrow night."** A buzz in her pocket alerted her to an incoming phone call, likely one of her colleagues trying to get in touch with her regarding the imminent attack on the Hellfire Club's last stronghold.  **"Sorry, J. Wish we could hang out and chat some more, but I gotta take this and get back to planning. I'll have to invite you to Avengers HQ sometime, assuming that we don't all wind up dead or erased from existence."**

 **"** **Good luck, Nat,"** Josh called out as the undercover superhero stood up and slipped out of the coffee shop so quietly that nobody except Sanae Hanekoma noticed her leave. Josh sighed as the fallen angel fixed him with a curious glance. He was not going to enjoy discussing his love life with the coffee shop owner.

* * *

#### The Moon – Hellfire Club Compound

#### November 16th, 2021

Thanks to unrestricted access to technology from Atlantis, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Global Justice Network, the Society of Advanced Cultural Knowledge had managed to construct a fully armed and operational Orbital Helicarrier to protect the Earth from external threats. When Earth became a full time member of the Galactic Federation, the O.H.C. was kept hidden from view behind Earth's moon and kept cloaked almost constantly. Once the Society came out of hiding and revealed their presence to the world, the spacecraft carrier was quickly pressed into service serving as an orbital launch pad for operations in the ongoing war against the Hellfire Club and the Unchained Legion.

Now, the carrier glided through the space between Earth and its only moon. When constructing her lunar compound, Maleficent had placed it on the near side of the moon, so that the sun's radiation would discourage transport up to the moon except during the times when the Earth was between the moon and the sun. Because of this, the attack on the Hellfire Club stronghold would have to be carefully timed. Fortunately, the days lined up and they were only three days away from a full moon. So all they had to do was fly up at night when the Moon was closes to the Earth and strike while the compound was exposed.

As the Orbital Helicarrier approached the lunar surface, spaceships of all makes, models, shapes, and sizes swarmed out of the larger craft's hangars and dove towards the tall metallic spires of the base. While they had originally hoped to strike and take the Hellfire Club by surprise, the situation now was even better. While Maleficent and Malekith launched their respective invasions of Asgard, Demona had slipped into the command center of the dark fairy's lair and destroyed the compound's cloaking systems. This left Maleficent's loyalists wide open as Malekith and his remaining allies laid siege to the iron citadel.

The element of surprise was no longer necessary. With the two factions busy fighting each other, all they had to do was hit everyone while they were distracted with their own petty power struggles and things would proceed much more smoothly. The atmosphere inside the dropships ferrying strike teams down to the surface was so thick it would take a battle axe to cut through it. As the troop carriers began their landing sequences, long triangular pods were flung down to the surface from the Helicarrier, where they implanted themselves in the lunar soil on impact before unfolding to reveal fully active DCNs. Inside one of the lead troop ships, Sora leaned over and kissed his fiancé one last time for luck as the doors opened and the strike teams charged into battle.

Explosions filled the airless sky around them as the combined forces charged into battle while Coalition Gummi Ships and Earth space fighters clashed with Dark Elf and Lorwardian spacecraft overhead. Moon rocks and lunar dust burst into the air as lasers and spell fire shot back and forth across the battlefield. Despite the distance from Earth and Asgard, Thor managed to call down a massive bolt of lightning that fried Hellfire and Dark Elf troops alike. Beside him, the Hulk launched himself into the air and began to cause as much chaos as possible. Dr. Banner's green-skinned alter ego leaped from space ship to spaceship before rocketing back down to the ground and throwing enemy combatants around like Loki back in 2012.

Meanwhile Iron man circled the battlefield, firing lasers, missiles, and repulsor blasts at enemy forces both above and below. Captain American hurled his shield at an oncoming Dark Elf before leaping up in the moon's lighter gravity to catch it as it drifted back towards him. Hawkeye found a high point on the iron tower and began firing arrows into the crowd of villains. Falcon weaved his way around the battlefield while Scarlet Witch flung the bad guys in every direction. Quicksilver continued to dispatch the enemy forces with super-speed punches while War Machine flew around with Iron Man. Coalition troops stayed outside to guard the entrances and keep anyone from escaping while Loki and Vanitas tore through the enemy ranks.

As all of this was happening, the second strike team finished regrouping in the entrance hall of the lunar fortress. Sora did a head count to make sure that they had everyone assigned to this part of the mission. Ant-Man, Wasp, Kim and Ron, Stitch, Black Panther, Violet, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and the rest of their team sounded off on the comms before he turned to Riku and nodded. It was time to do this. Once everyone was ready, the second strike team charged into the base, ready to end this once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be because of the fact that I was introduced to the cast of The World Ends With You through Kingdom Hearts and didn't play the game for myself until a few years later, but I was always suspicious that what Mr. H tells Neku about Joshua's backstory isn't accurate. Combine that with him having angel wings in the KH verse, and I came up with an entirely new backstory for him.


	14. One Giant Leap For Mankind

#### The Moon – Hellfire Club Compound

#### November 16th, 2021

Explosions rippled across the surface of the moon as all three sides fought with intense ferocity. With the sudden reduction in enemy troops, the battle was quickly turning in the heroes favor. Iron Man and War Machine tore through Lorwardian and Dark Elf spaceships like butter with one Repulsor blast after another while the Hulk brought ships down with his bare hands. Thor swung his hammer to knock a squad of Lorwardian foot soldiers into space before frying them with a massive lightning bolt. Bucky and Hawkeye picked off Leroys one by one from their magical air capsule on the roof above the compound's entrance.

Loki was up to his usual tricks, confusing and disorienting Dark Elves and Lorwardians with illusions before knocking them into the air, where Vanitas quickly took them out with bursts of Darkness. Quicksilver had laid out a large portion of the soldiers of both factions of the Hellfire Club with running punches. A strike team of Dragons breathed fire, ice, and lightning at the enemy combatants below as Aqua fired off Shotlocks at the swarms. While Coalition soldiers held the exits, Dilan forced his way into a cluster of Dark Elves trying to make a run for it to create some chaos. Unfortunately, that proved to be his undoing.

Despite his speed and mastery over the wind, his Aeroga spells and other wind-based abilities were less effective in the airless vacuum of space, and the elves' plasma rifles began to overwhelm his defenses until a lucky shot hit him right in the heart, killing him instantly. Aeleus scattered the Dark Elves with a flurry of lunar soil as he rushed to his old friend's side. Though they hadn't been close friends even in their Organization XIII days, they had served in the Royal Guard together. And Malekith would pay for the death of his comrade. With a roar of fury, He swung his massive axe-sword and sent a wave of earth hurtling towards the next Dark Elf he saw before charging back into the fray.

Falcon made another strafing run to give the Silent Hero some cover while Scarlet hurled several boulders up into the fleeing ships overhead, flinging them with enough force to cripple a few of their engines. The Lorwardian fleet was now drifting aimlessly overhead as they crawled out of the way of an incoming orbital bombardment from the Hellicarrier. As the battle dragged on, bodies began to pile up on both sides. Neither the forces of Earth nor the Coalition troops really wanted to kill their enemies, but they were painfully aware of the fact that none of their foes would ever surrender, and only success or death would keep them from their mission.

Inside the lunar fortress, the strike team split up. Violet Ant-Man and the Wasp made their way towards the security station. The hallways were littered with the corpses of Leroy clones and vanilla humans wearing the skull and tentacles uniform of HYDRA, but even though they were alone, they shrunk down or turned invisible at the slightest sign of movement, just in case. Upon reaching the security center, they found that the entire room had been trashed. Computer monitors and wall-mounted screens sparked and fizzed as the lights flickered on and off. Blood and scorch marks stained the walls, ceiling, and floor, and there were more than a few bodies piled up against the back wall. The trio tensed when they heard someone enter the room and whirled around to find themselves facing a blue-skinned gargoyle with bright red hair.

"You're too late, humans," Demona spat. "Malekith has the Aethir, and with it he will remake reality in his image. The Infinity Gauntlet will be hours." Ant man didn't give her time to react before he shrunk down and attempted to punch her, only for her to swat him aside. Wasp activated the wings on her suit and began firing her stingers at the rogue Gargoyle. Violet put up a force field right as Demona attempted to claw at her, knocking the Gargoyle back. As Demona got angrier, her eyes began to glow bright red as she leaped into the battle anew with barred fangs and a menacing snarl.

While that trio dealt with Demona in the security station, Black Panther, Stitch, and the Stoppables were heading towards the hangar to keep Maleficent's lackeys from escaping aboard Captain Hook's pirate ship the old fashioned way. After wandering through corpse-filled hallways like those their comrades were finding, full of Leroys, HYDRA remnants, and the odd Dark Elf body, they emerged into a cavernous spacecraft hangar where the Jolly Roger hovered just above a set of metal steps leading up to the ship's deck. After taking brief surveillance sweep to confirm that the controls for the hangar doors were in another room that was overlooking the hangar, the group made their way towards them only to be stopped by two plumes of smoke that appeared in front of them.

One dissipated in with an accompanying flicker of orange fire to reveal the grey skinned form of Hades, while the other rose up to human height before whirling away to reveal Maleficent's raven Diablo. Currently, the shapeshifting bird was in a form with a human body, but with wicked sharp draconian claws, wisps of darkness and green fire rising off his half-human battle form as he prepared to face the intruders. In response to their sudden appearance, Black Panther activated the Vibranium claws on his suit and charged. Kim and Ron ducked under a fireball Hades sent in their directions while Stitch scuttled over to confront the Greek god.

Kim and Ron, having faced far weirder things than Diablo's human/dragon combat mode, went after the bird man. Because of the invincibility of Vibranium and Jumba's fireproofing, Stitch and T'Challa raced over to face Hades. Kim and Ron dodged the wild swings of Diablo's claws before Kim landed a swift kick in the shapeshifter's side. Meanwhile, Black Panther went straight for the lord of the underworld's exposed arm, startling Hades when the Vibranium managed to give him a scratch. Not enough to draw blood, but still enough to leave a mark. Stitch picked up the fireballs lobbed his way and threw them back, stunning the Olympian long enough for the prince of Wakanda to land a few punches unopposed. Hades quickly recovered, the fight went on.

Meanwhile Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi sprinted through the twisting corridor of the citadel's command center. While Black Panther's team was covering the hangar and Vanitas' troops were holding the exits, they needed to apprehend Maleficent and her inner circle now before she could get away. It was good to finally have the gang back together, teaming up to take down the bad guys, just like old times, true, none of them missed having to deal with Xehanort's machinations, but compared to his mind screwing plots, Maleficent's straightforward plans were a breeze to deal with. Although there was no sound in the corridors they walked through, they could hear the rumble of explosions and the roar of combat coming from all directions.

Donald and Goofy brought up the rear, making sure they weren't ambushed from behind. Riku too point, checking the path ahead of them for signs of Hellfire Club troops. Sora and Kairi walked side by side in the middle of the pack. They kept their Keyblades ready as they made their way through the base. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it), they didn't have to do that much fighting. The fighting between Maleficent's loyalists and Malekith's rebels had greatly reduced the Hellfire Club's ranks, meaning that they wouldn't need to spend as much time dealing with the lackeys and could devote more energy towards bringing down the Club's leadership.

Inside the central command chamber of the fortress, the villains were faring no better against each other than they were against the defenders of Earth. Yzma had already been killed, while the surviving leaders of HYDRA such as Gideon Malick and the recently rescued Baron Von Strucker had managed to escape to Earth. Things had been bad enough when Malekith had arrived, but when he managed to sway the Lorwardians to his side, Maleficent knew that it was time to fold and retreat to fight another day. Now the upper echelons of the club were in the middle of a fighting retreat as they raced to where the Jolly Roger had been docked in the base's hangar.

It was a madhouse in here. Dark Elves fought the last of the Leroy clones and the remainder of Maleficent's goons while Nebula whirled through the crowd, cutting through the elven ranks and felling them with her sword. Captain Hook alternated between sword swings and gunshots to slow down the advancing mob of Dark Elves. Though the Dark Elves were formidable, between the Avengers' high tech weapons and Nebula using their Black Hole grenades against them, the Dark Elf army had been reduced to a fifth of its original strength. And that was ignoring the women and children hiding in safety aboard the  _Nathalis._ Hook ran his enhanced blade through an elven warrior's chest when he saw Malekith appear behind him and Advance on Maleficent's unprotected flank.

Taking aim with a fallen Dark Elf plasma rifle, Captain Hook fired straight at the Elven king's heart. His smug grin turned to horrified shock when the plasma bolt passed right through Malekith like he wasn't even there and struck Maleficent. The Mistress of All Evil stumbled back in shock as Hook threw down the weapon in horror and raced to his old friend's side, apologizing profusely as he did so. Maleficent gasped for breath as violet blood poured from the deep wound in her chest, staining her black robes as she collapsed to her knees and struggled to stay upright. Hades, who had felt her pain from down in the hangar, teleported up and lunged forward to catch her as she fell. While the hologram of Malekith flickered out of existence Hook was about to prepare a Curaga spell to heal her injuries when the real Malekith appeared behind the dark fairy and removed her head from her body.

* * *

#### Earth – D.E.S.  _Nathalis_

#### November 16th, 2021

Malekith and his lieutenant looked out the window in triumph from the safety of their cloaked command ship as S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjets descended towards the moon's surface to mop up the last remnants of Maleficent's half-baked attempt at a power grab. That ignorant with did not know when to give up and admit she'd lost. And it had finally cost the Mistress of All Evil her life. Now, with her out of the way and the Unchained Legion in hiding, there was only one thing left to do.

 **"** **Our next move is clear, Algrim,"** the Dark Elf king remarked.  **"With two Infinity Stones in our possession, we must recover the Gauntlet, and steal the other four from the Unchained Legion."**

 **"** **But my King,"** Algrim protested.  **"Do we even know where the true Gauntlet is?"**

 **"** **No need to fret, Algrim,"** Malekith replied.  **"The Aesir may have tried to throw us off the scent with a false gauntlet in the palace vaults. But with the two stones close enough together, I can sense the hiding place of the** ** _real_** **Infinity Gauntlet. The Dark Dragon thought he could protect it by hiding it beneath the dark miasma of his old lair, but we were born in the darkness, and know how to see through it to what lies beneath."** Algrim nodded his head in approval as he went to inform the helmsman of their next destination.

Suddenly alarms began to blare as a glowing white portal appeared in front of the command chair. Algrim and his king immediately slid into combat stances as a swarm of armored Keyblade Wielders came charging out of the glowing circle. Malekith roared in outrage as he charged forward and engaged in a duel with the blonde, knife-wielding woman leading the attack.  _How dare they?_ The dark elf king fumed as he dodged one of the golden knifes the Unchained commander threw at his head.  _How dare these Unchained violate our sanctuary?_ Behind him, more Svartalfar warriors came charging up the stairs towards the bridge, answering the summons to battle.

He swung his sword at the woman's neck, only for her to dismiss her knifes and summon up her Keyblade to parry the strike in a flash of light. Sword and Keyblade danced across the narrow metal floor of the bridge in a deadly game of cat and mouse. When the woman's defenses lowered, he lunged forward and took the offensive with single-minded purpose, hacking and slashing as he drove her back to the portal from whence she came. But he was so focused on keeping his opponent off balance that he failed to properly pay attention to what her underlings were doing.

As he forced her back to the portal, the blonde Unchained cartwheeled backwards, kicking him in the face. For a moment, the Dark Elf king stumbled, disoriented, and surprised that a mere human could do any significant damage to him. As the woman landed on her feet again, she whistled loudly, giving her Legionnaires the cue to fall back. As Malekith recovered from the sting of her kick, he looked up to see two Unchained sprinting towards the portal each carrying a container bearing distinct glows of red and orange.

 **"** **NO!"** He roared as he charged forward to recover the two Infinity Stones. But it was too late. Lerena knocked him back with a Thundaga Shot spell as she and the two Unchained carrying the Soul and Reality Stones retreated through the portal. The elven king regained his footing, only for his eyes to widen in horror as the portal closed in a flash of light, leaving no sign that the Unchained Legion had ever been here at all. For a moment, he simply dropped to his knees and let out an earth shaking roar of unbridled fury. His lieutenant and even his own people shied away from him to avoid amplifying his wrath.

 **"** **We will see this through to the end, Algrim,"** Malekith snapped as he rose to his feet, whirling around to sit in his command chair.  **"We have come too far to turn back now. We will obtain the Gauntlet and steal back the Aethir, or we will all die trying! Revenge** ** _will_** **be ours! ALL AHEAD FULL!"** As the ship lurched forward and began its course towards their next destination down in Earth's atmosphere, Malekith stared ahead angrily.  _I will avenge you, Nathlis, Olenir,_ he vowed as tongues of fire from reentry began to streak past the bridge's central window. He was so focused on thoughts of revenge in that moment that he failed to notice the uneasy look Algrim shot him as his second in command looked down at the scores of Dark Elf women and children huddling helplessly in the lower levels as their king drove them all down towards a single-minded quest for vengeance.

* * *

#### The Moon – Hellfire Club Compound

#### November 16th, 2021

With Maleficent's death, the battle soon ended. Malekith's brutal execution of their leader demoralized a large chunk of the remaining Hellfire Club forces, who were quickly taken into custody. Not everyone had been captured though. A small group, consisting of Helga, Diablo, Nebula, Hook, Cruella, and a handful of others freed from prison during the recent attack on Radiant Garden had managed to escape with Hades aboard the Jolly Roger. The ship was last seen attempting to flee the solar system with S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjets being piloted by Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme in hot pursuit before vanishing through a massive Corridor of Darkness. Sora had a feeling that they'd be back soon enough, however.

The battle had been long and exhausting for both sides, and the heroes had not won the day without casualties. Dilan, a few S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, and some Coalition Intelligence operatives all gave their lives to ensure that the Hellfire Club would be stopped once and for all. Not to mention the suspicious fact that the Unchained Legion had failed to make an appearance at all for the entire duration of the battle. Riku would have expected them to have at least tried to steal the Infinity Stones Maleficent had acquired. But no, there hadn't been any sign the Legion had even entered the fray at all. And to the agents of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Coalition Intelligence Network, that was extremely worrying.

 _At least Rose and Agent Romanov have the Secret Warriors standing by waiting for the Legion to show their faces,_ Sora thought to himself as he and Kairi walked together out the front doors of the citadel towards the Quinjet that would take them back to Earth. The oxygen tanks in their space suits kicking in as they crossed the threshold, one of Tony Stark's most celebrated accomplishments allowing them to transition from one environment to the other without missing a step.

The Society of Advanced Cultural Knowledge and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Inhuamn strike team had abstained from the fight against the Hellfire Club to conserve resources for the much more important battle to come. With the Hellfire Club broken, the fledgeling alliance between Earth and the Coalition needed to sweep up both Malekith's Dark Elves and hunt down the Unchained Legion. The latter would be the harder of the two tasks, as they first needed to expose all the Unchained sleeper agents hiding in Earth's governments and society. Then they needed to drag the organization out of the shadows and destroy them in such a way that the Legion could never reform again.

Riku had figured all of this out with Aqua, Vanitas, and Coulson. That was why he was bounding across the lunar surface to check in with his closest friends. To let them know what was going on so they could get ready for the next battle. He landed in front of the happy couple, who were no doubt discussing when to finally have their wedding, and was just about to open his mouth when a sudden burst of light knocked them all across the moon's soil, kicking up lunar dust as they fell. Riku looked up and saw Sora shakily rising to his feet as he turned to face the new arrival.

Marluxia, now High Praetor Aurilam of the Unchained Legion, stood before the Destiny Islands trio. Flower petals and wisps of light whirled around his body as the light faded. Before anyone could say or do anything, he had his scythe in his hands, and he lunged forward as he plunged the blade into Sora's stomach. Kairi screamed, alerting everyone else in the vicinity to what was going on. Avengers and Coalition citizens alike came racing over to help, but they would never get there in time.

"Sorry it had to be this way," Aurilam commented with mock regret as he whirled Sora around and positioned the brunette so he was between the Graceful Assassin and his friends. As he had done before with Namine, Aurilam was using Sora as a human shield. "But the Endgame requires that X – Blade of yours," the former Organization member went on. "So I'm going to have to ask you to be our guest for a few weeks while we sort all the details out. Come along, now." And with that, they vanished in another flash of light. Kairi was hysterical as she scrambled over towards the patch of blood that marked where Sora had been standing, while all Riku could do was stare in mute shock as he realized that even though Aurilam had deliberately aimed to wound, there would be nothing stopping the Unchained Legion from murdering his friend once they had what they wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Sora's not dead. I just had this cliffhanger rolling around in my head for as long as I had the idea for this saga and I was excited to finally write it out. 
> 
> The decapitation may have been a bit over the top, but it's just to show that this time Maleficent really is dead. She won't be coming back either. Malekith will live past the end of this current saga though, as I do have plans for him in regards to the Fallen Ones that the Unchained are so afraid of.
> 
> Even though Algrim was a flat character in the finished cut of Thor: The Dark World, I thought his redemption arc in the comics had some intriguing storytelling potential in my fanfic, so I decided to work it into the Acolytes of Chaos story.
> 
> Diablo's battle form is another Remember The Tides reference.


End file.
